Effect of acupuncture on pain management in patients before and after lumbar disc protrusion surgery - A randomized control study

Management of acute and chronic low back and leg pain often includes the us e of acupuncture. The effectiveness of this form of therapy is dependent up on compliance, which in turn is dependent on availability, response, treatm ent of proper acupoints, and the placebo effect. We hypothesized that class ical acupuncture would be more effective than placebo acupuncture. One hund red and thirty-two patients with acute and chronic low back and leg pain we re examined before and after surgery for lumbar disc protrusion. Diagnosis was based on CT and MRT findings. Patients received acupuncture drugfree th roughout the study period. The visual analogue scale was used to assess pai n intensity before and after (i.e. 30min. 60min. 2h and 6h) acupuncture. Cl assical acupuncture resulted in a significant reduction in pain that become increasingly stronger during the 6h study period. Placebo acupuncture lead to same early pain relief that did not reach statistic significant and the n declined thereafter.