Evaluation of the Pain Relief Effect of Battlefield Acupuncture on Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain Due to Lumbar Spine Degeneration.

Summary

The Global Burden of Disease's 2023 study shows that lower back pain affects over 619 million people worldwide, with projections reaching 843 million by 2050. It is a common symptom of lumbar spine degeneration, with 84.2% of patients experiencing it. To address this issue, Vietnam's Ministry of Health has released guidelines on "Lumbar Spine Pain" (Yêu thống), combining traditional and modern medicine, including acupuncture, to alleviate pain. However, to achieve better treatment outcomes, the combination of multiple interventions, such as different types of acupuncture, is required. Additionally, the USAF's Integrative Medicine and Acupuncture Center released guidelines in 2021 for Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA), a rapid, safe, and effective pain relief method. Internationally, there are studies on BFA for various types of pain, including lower back pain, but none in Vietnam. Therefore, the investigators conducted this study to evaluate the effects of BFA combined with electroacupuncture and pain medication on chronic lower back pain patients with lumbar spine degeneration in Vietnam.

Timeline

Start

2025-03-15

Primary completion

2025-07-31

Completion

2025-08-31

Publications

• Background Song CY, Chen CH, Chen TW, Chiang HY, Hsieh CL. Assessment of Low Back Pain: Reliability and Minimal Detectable Change of the Brief Pain Inventory. Am J Occup Ther. 2022 May 1;76(3):7603205040. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2022.044420.
• Background Hawker GA, Mian S, Kendzerska T, French M. Measures of adult pain: Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain), Numeric Rating Scale for Pain (NRS Pain), McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS), Short Form-36 Bodily Pain Scale (SF-36 BPS), and Measure of Intermittent and Constant Osteoarthritis Pain (ICOAP). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011 Nov;63 Suppl 11:S240-52. doi: 10.1002/acr.20543. No abstract available.
• Background Bielewicz J, Daniluk B, Kamieniak P. VAS and NRS, Same or Different? Are Visual Analog Scale Values and Numerical Rating Scale Equally Viable Tools for Assessing Patients after Microdiscectomy? Pain Res Manag. 2022 Mar 29;2022:5337483. doi: 10.1155/2022/5337483. eCollection 2022.
• Background Murakami M, Fox L, Dijkers MP. Ear Acupuncture for Immediate Pain Relief-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Pain Med. 2017 Mar 1;18(3):551-564. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnw215.
• Background Matz PG, Meagher RJ, Lamer T, Tontz WL Jr, Annaswamy TM, Cassidy RC, Cho CH, Dougherty P, Easa JE, Enix DE, Gunnoe BA, Jallo J, Julien TD, Maserati MB, Nucci RC, O'Toole JE, Rosolowski K, Sembrano JN, Villavicencio AT, Witt JP. Guideline summary review: An evidence-based clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis. Spine J. 2016 Mar;16(3):439-48. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2015.11.055. Epub 2015 Dec 8.
• Background Fox LM, Murakami M, Danesh H, Manini AF. Battlefield acupuncture to treat low back pain in the emergency department. Am J Emerg Med. 2018 Jun;36(6):1045-1048. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2018.02.038. Epub 2018 Feb 27.
• Background Mao JJ, Liou KT, Baser RE, Bao T, Panageas KS, Romero SAD, Li QS, Gallagher RM, Kantoff PW. Effectiveness of Electroacupuncture or Auricular Acupuncture vs Usual Care for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Among Cancer Survivors: The PEACE Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2021 May 1;7(5):720-727. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.0310.
• Background Hướng dẫn Chẩn đoán và Điều trị bệnh theo Y học cổ truyền, kết hợp Y học cổ truyền với Y học hiện đại (2020).
• Background GBD 2021 Low Back Pain Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of low back pain, 1990-2020, its attributable risk factors, and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet Rheumatol. 2023 May 22;5(6):e316-e329. doi: 10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00098-X. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Drugs

Indications