Efficacy of acupuncture for sciatica: study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial

Abstract

Background Acupuncture is widely used for pain diseases while evidence of its efficacy for sciatica is insufficient. We aim to explore the feasibility and efficacy of acupuncture with different acupoint selecting strategies for sciatica induced by lumbar disc herniation. Methods This is a multicenter, three-arm, patient-assessor-blinded randomized controlled pilot trial. Ninety patients will be assigned randomly into 3 groups including disease-affected meridians (DAM) group, non-affected meridians (NAM) group, and sham acupuncture (SA) group in a 1:1:1 ratio. The trial involves a 4-week treatment along with follow-up for 22 weeks. The primary outcome is the change of leg pain intensity measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS) from baseline to week 4 after randomization. Secondary outcomes include functional status, back pain intensity, and quality of life. Adverse events will also be recorded. Discussion The results will inspire the optimal acupuncture strategy for sciatica and help establish a better design as well as power calculation for a full-scale study. Trial registration ChiCTR2000030680 (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, http://www.chictr.org.cn, registered on 9 March 2020).

Effective Oriental Magic for Analgesia: Acupuncture

“…The effectiveness of acupuncture was better than the sham and no acupuncture group, alleviating the pain cannot be elucidated by the placebo effect barely [ 37 ]. It can also be found that acupuncture in different acupoints has a positive analgesic efficacy on sciatica treatment, and the effectiveness is better than the sham acupuncture group [ 38 ]. In alleviation of knee osteoarthritis (KOA), acupuncture has a noticeable higher cure rate than sham acupuncture, it is worth mentioning that over time, the utility of EA seems to be higher than other control groups [ 39 ].…”

Acupuncture for chronic sciatica: protocol for a multicenter randomised controlled trial

“…Treatment offered in this trial is developed by experts and refer to our pilot study. 23 Report of the intervention is following the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture guidelines with details shown in table 1 and figure 2. 24 Celebrex (Pfizer Pharmaceutical) may be prescribed for those with unbearable pain as rescue medicine, based on their needs.…”

Study on the Regulation of ROS by Acupuncture and Moxibustion to Relieve Inflammation in the Treatment of Sciatica

“…The increase of ROS expression leads to the increase of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, and inflammatory factors are important key factors in the pathophysiological mechanism of sciatica [15] [16]. At present, acupuncture and moxibustion are commonly used in the clinical treatment of nerve pain [17], which has been proven to be an effective and safe treatment in clinical practice, and has achieved good results in reducing pain and improving patients' quality of life [18] [19] [20]. Acupuncture and moxibustion, with their low price, and quick effect, can be combined with other treatment methods, and the incidence of adverse reactions after treatment is low, so it has become the choice of routine treatment for sciatica [20].…”