Acupuncture effective for chronic sciatica

Acupuncture effective for chronic sciatica

Acupuncture is a viable and effective treatment option for chronic sciatica due to herniated discs, offering significant pain relief and improved quality of life, a Chinese research team has concluded. The study included 220 patients with persistent sciatica lasting more than six months, who had not responded to conventional therapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 sessions of serum acupuncture or sham acupuncture over four weeks. The acupuncture treatment involved bilateral points on the back (Dachangshu BL-25 and Guanyuanshu BL-26) and unilateral points on the affected leg, determined by the site of the leg pain (for the side of the leg - Huantiao GB-30, Fengshi GB-31, Xiyangguan GB-33, Yanglingquan GB-34 and Xuanzhong GB-39; for the back of the leg - Zhibian BL-54, Chengfu BL-36, Weizhong BL-40, Chenshan BL-57 and Kunlun BL-60). If the patient was experiencing pain at both the back and side of the leg, the practitioner could choose any five leg points from those listed. A total of nine points were used for each patient during each session, with three acupuncture sessions per week for the first two weeks, followed by two sessions per week up to four weeks. Sham acupuncture was performed at non-acupoints located adjacent to the points used for verum acupuncture, using short, blunt needles. The primary outcome was the change in pain intensity, measured on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) from baseline to 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes included functional improvement, quality of life, use of pain medications and long-term pain relief assessed at 24 weeks. Patients were followed for an additional 48 weeks. The results demonstrated that verum acupuncture significantly reduced pain compared with sham acupuncture. Patients in the acupuncture group reported a greater decrease in pain scores at the end of the treatment period, with the benefits persisting at follow-up evaluation. The VAS for leg pain was observed to have decreased by 30.8 mm in the acupuncture group, compared with 14.9 mm in the sham group, at week 4 (mean difference [MD] -16.0). Functional improvement and quality of life also showed significant enhancements in the acupuncture group, although these effects were less pronounced than the pain reduction. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) had decreased by 13.0 points in the acupuncture group versus 4.9 points in the sham acupuncture group at week 4 (MD -8.1). For both VAS and ODI, between-group differences became apparent from week 2 (MD -7.8) and persisted through to week 52 (MD -10.8). The study reported no serious adverse events in either group, indicating that acupuncture is a safe intervention for chronic sciatica. The authors conclude that their results support the incorporation of acupuncture as a complementary therapy for managing chronic sciatica in patients who have not found relief with standard treatment. (Acupuncture vs Sham Acupuncture for Chronic Sciatica From Herniated Disk: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2024 Dec 1;184(12):1417-1424).

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39401008/