Immediate relief of herniated lumbar disc-related sciatica by ankle acupuncture

Abstract

Background:Around 90% of sciatica cases are due to a herniated intervertebral disc in the lumbar region. Ankle acupuncture (AA) has been reported to be effective in the treatment of acute nonspecific low back pain. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a single session of ankle acupuncture for disc-related sciatica.Method:This will be a double-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial. Patients diagnosed with disc-related sciatica will be randomly divided into 3 parallel groups. The treatment group (n = 30) will receive ankle acupuncture. The 2 control groups will either undergo traditional needle manipulation (n = 30) or sham acupuncture (n = 30) at the same point as the treatment group. The primary outcome will be pain intensity on a visual analog scale (VAS). The secondary outcomes will be paresthesia intensity on a VAS and the Abbreviated Acceptability Rating Profile (AAPR). The success of blinding will be evaluated, and the needle-induced sensation and adverse events will be recorded. All outcomes will be evaluated before, during, and after the treatment.Discussion:This study will determine the immediate effect and specificity of ankle acupuncture for the treatment of disc-related sciatica. We anticipate that ankle acupuncture might be more effective than traditional needle manipulation or sham acupuncture.Trial registrationChiCTR-IPR-15007127 (http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=11989)

Efficacy of Acupuncture for the Treatment of Sciatica: A Case Report

“…We chose VAS because it is commonly used to measure pain intensity [12]. The same was applied by several studies conducted in the past [13,14]. An interventional study conducted by Singh et al, on 200 patients concluded that acupuncture provides effective relief from sciatica pain [13].…”

Comparison of 3 assessment modes of acupuncture effect on patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome

“…In general, acupuncture ameliorates pain immediately and the effect lasts for a few hours. [ 33 , 34 ] However, assessments conducted immediately or soon after treatment may exaggerate the results. In addition, the influence which patients are accompanied with outcome assessors on objective effect assessment cannot be ignored.…”

Acupoint catgut embedding for the treatment of sciatica

“…Thus the incidence of lumbar intervertebral disc prolapse is increasing, and sciatica can happen in younger patients. [ 7 , 8 ] Suggesting that there are 5 out of every 1000 people suffering from sciatica in Western countries. In America, 25% of the medical insurance expenditure is paying for treating sciatica, and in England, the direct or indirect expenses for sciatica is £4.3 billion.…”