Clinical efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of sciatica during the remission phase of lumbar disc herniation: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Study Summary

78 patients with sciatica during the remission phase of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) were randomized in the original trial to receive acupuncture or lumbar traction, with 73 patients included in the final analysis. Both groups received treatment 3 times weekly for 3 weeks. The primary outcome was leg pain, measured using the visual analogue scale for leg pain (VAS-LP). Secondary outcomes included the visual analogue scale for low back pain (VAS-LBP), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, JOA improvement rate and adverse events. Outcomes were assessed at 1 and 3 weeks of treatment and at 4 and 16 weeks of follow-up. Overall, the results of the study revealed that acupuncture provided significantly greater reductions in leg pain at 3 weeks and at the 4-week follow-up, alongside greater improvements in JOA scores after treatment. However, differences in leg pain were no longer significant at 16 weeks, and no significant differences were observed in low back pain or ODI scores. These findings suggested that acupuncture offered additional short-term pain relief compared with traction in patients with remission-phase LDH-induced sciatica.