Riassunto dello studio

51 patients with degenerative lumbar spinal disorders were randomized to receive Fu’s subcutaneous needling (FSN) (n=26) or sham needling (n=25). The primary outcome was pain intensity measured by the Brief Pain Inventory - Taiwan version (BPI-T) at various intervals post-surgery. Secondary outcomes included muscle hardness, pethidine use, and inflammatory biomarker levels. Assessments were conducted at 1, 24, 48, and 72 hours, as well as 1 month post-surgery. Overall, the FSN group showed significantly lower pain intensity and interference scores at all post-surgery intervals (p<0.05). Muscle hardness was also reduced more in the FSN group than in the control group after 24–72 hours (p<0.05). No significant differences were observed in pethidine use or inflammatory biomarkers. These findings suggest FSN effectively reduces postoperative pain and muscle hardness but does not influence systemic inflammation.