Moxibustion therapy in Chinese patients with ankylosing spondylitis: A randomized controlled pilot trial

Abstract

IntroductionMoxibustion has been widely used in East Asia to manage patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This study aimed to evaluate the short-term effectiveness and safety of moxibustion therapy for treating AS. MethodsThis single-blind randomized controlled pilot study was conducted from August 2018 to January 2019 on 76 AS patients, who were randomly allocated to either a control (n = 32) or an intervention group (n = 30). The control group received conventional intervention alone, while the intervention group received in-patient moxibustion therapy in addition to their conventional intervention for four weeks. Musculoskeletal BATH scores, HRQoL(health-related quality of life), and blood samples were assessed at baseline and at the endpoint-week 6. ResultsMoxibustion significantly improved physical function and decreased disease activity, according to the BASFI (bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index) and BASDAI (bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity) indexes, respectively (p < 0.05), whereas the BASMI (bath ankylosing spondylitis metrology index) index did not reveal significant differences between groups (p > 0.05). Additionally, moxibustion produced significant improvement in some domains of the SF-36 (Short form 36 health survey) HRQoL and ASQOL (ankylosing spondylitis quality of life) scale (p < 0.05), whereas no effect was observed in CRP (C-reactive protein) serum levels (p > 0.05). ConclusionMoxibustion in combination with conventional therapies may exhibit beneficial effects for AS patients in the short-term, such as improved physical function and health-related quality of life and decreased disease activity. However, these positive results should be interpreted with caution, as most of the included outcomes were limited to self-assessment tools, and there were no appropriate placebo controls or long-term follow-ups. Further research is needed that would utilize an appropriate moxibustion placebo device and include more objective outcomes, which could evaluate the long-term effectiveness of moxibustion interventions on AS.