A Randomized Clinical Study on Acupuncture Therapy for Relieving Sciatica Caused by Lumbar Disc Herniation

Abstract

Acupuncture has been proved to be effective in many diseases, but the effect of acupuncture on sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation is not clear. Our aim was to explore the efficacy and safety of acupuncture on sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation. A total of 73 lumbar disc herniation patients with sciatica in our hospital were selected and randomly divided into the study group (acupuncture, n=37) and control group (sham acupuncture, n=36). The results showed that there were no significant differences in leg pain visual analogue scale, low back pain visual analogue scale or Oswestry Disability Index score at baseline between the study group and the control group. Compared with baseline, patients in both groups improved significantly in leg pain visual analogue scale, low back pain visual analogue scale and Oswestry Disability Index score. During treatment, improvements in leg pain visual analogue scale, low back pain visual analogue scale and Oswestry Disability Index score were all faster for patients in the study group. However, this short term benefit of acupuncture therapy was no longer significant by 16th w. In addition, acupuncture therapy achieved a faster rate of perceived recovery. In terms of safety, acupuncture has been proved to be safe without obvious side effects. In acupuncture can effectively relieve sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation in the early stage and can be used as an important auxiliary means of early treatment.