Short-Term Effect of Laser Acupuncture on Lower Back Pain: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial

Shin, J.-Y.

Ku, B.

Kim, J.U.

Lee, Y.J.

Kang, J.H.

Heo, H.

Choi, H.-J.

Lee, J.-H.

Evidence-based Complementary & Alternative Medicine (eCAM)

2015

2015

RCT

BACKACHE -- Treatment

LASERS -- Therapeutic use

Acupuncture

ACUPUNCTURE points

ANALYSIS of covariance

PLACEBOS (Medicine)

Questionnaires

RESEARCH -- Finance

SAMPLING (Statistics)

Statistics

T-test (Statistics)

STATISTICAL power analysis

DATA analysis

PAIN measurement

RANDOMIZED controlled trials

VISUAL analog scale

TREATMENT effectiveness

BLIND experiment

PAIN threshold

KOREA (South)

Purpose. This trial was performed to investigate the efficacy of laser acupuncture for the alleviation of lower back pain. Methods. This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Fifty-six participants were randomly assigned to either the laser acupuncture group (n=28) or the sham laser acupuncture group (n=28). Participants in both groups received three treatment sessions over the course of one week. Thirteen acupuncture points were selected. The visual analogue scale for pain, pressure pain threshold, Patient Global Impression of Change, and Euro-Quality-of-Life Five Dimensions questionnaire (Korean version) were used to evaluate the effect of laser acupuncture treatment on lower back pain. Results. There were no significant differences in any outcome between the two groups, although the participants in both groups showed a significant improvement in each assessed parameter relative to the baseline values. Conclusion. Although there was no significant difference in outcomes between the two groups, the results suggest that laser acupuncture can provide effective pain alleviation and can be considered an option for relief from lower back pain. Further studies using long-term intervention, a larger sample size, and rigorous methodology are required to clarify the effect of laser acupuncture on lower back pain.

Accession Number: 110311807; Source Information: 10/1/2015, Vol. 2015, p1; Subject Term: BACKACHE -- Treatment; Subject Term: LASERS -- Therapeutic use; Subject Term: ACUPUNCTURE; Subject Term: ACUPUNCTURE points; Subject Term: ANALYSIS of covariance; Subject Term: PLACEBOS (Medicine); Subject Term: QUESTIONNAIRES; Subject Term: RESEARCH -- Finance; Subject Term: SAMPLING (Statistics); Subject Term: STATISTICS; Subject Term: T-test (Statistics); Subject Term: STATISTICAL power analysis; Subject Term: DATA analysis; Subject Term: PAIN measurement; Subject Term: RANDOMIZED controlled trials; Subject Term: VISUAL analog scale; Subject Term: TREATMENT effectiveness; Subject Term: BLIND experiment; Subject Term: PAIN threshold; Subject Term: ; Geographic Subject: KOREA (South); Geographic Subject: ; Number of Pages: 8p; ; Illustrations: 1 Color Photograph, 2 Diagrams, 2 Charts, 4 Graphs; ; Document Type: Article;

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