Acupuncture helps patients with low back pain reducing lumber surgery rate-research update

Low back pain (LBP) is a very common condition globally. Invasive surgical procedures are increasingly being used to treat LBP despite a lack of solid evidence supporting their long-term benefits. There is a research investigated the association between acupuncture treatment and lumbar surgery rate in patients with LBP. The participants in this study were all newly diagnosed LBP in Korea between 2004 and 2010 and they were allocated into two groups: acupuncture group and control group. The lumbar surgery rate in the two years following the first visit (control group) or the first acupuncture session (acupuncture group) was calculated. 130,089 patients were included in each study group which is not a small sample study.

The lumbar surgery rate was significantly lower in the acupuncture group than in the control group. This was regardless of age. Decrease in surgery procedure rate was consistently observed in the acupuncture group for all age strata, except for patients in their 20s. Lumbar surgery tended to be further reduced in the older age groups upon acupuncture treatment. There were no apparent sex-related differences. Neither this was no link with income. All income groups observed had reduced surgery rate in the acupuncture group; the higher income group tended to decrease more. The more intensive acupuncture treatment was associated with further reduction in lumbar surgery rates. They concluded that acupuncture treatment is associated with lower lumbar surgery rates for LBP patients in Korea.

This was good news that acupuncture can help people with LBP without having to have surgical procedure.

References

Koh W et al PLoS One (2018) Jun 12;13(6):e0199042. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199042. eCollection 2018.