Acupuncture for acute non-specific low back pain: a randomised, controlled, multicentre intervention study in general practice-the Acuback study

Trygve Skonnord; Holgeir Skjeie; Mette Brekke; Atle Klovning; Margreth Grotle; Eline Aas; Ibrahimu Mdala; Arne Fetveit

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034157

Acupuncture for acute non-specific low back pain: a randomised, controlled, multicentre intervention study in general practice-the Acuback study

BMJ Open. 2020 Aug 6;10(8):e034157. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034157.

Authors

Trygve Skonnord¹, Holgeir Skjeie², Mette Brekke³, Atle Klovning², Margreth Grotle^{4

5}, Eline Aas^{6

7}, Ibrahimu Mdala³, Arne Fetveit³

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway trygve.skonnord@medisin.uio.no.
² Department of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
³ General Practice Research Unit (AFE), Department of General Practice, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Department of Physiotherapy, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Research and Communication Unit for Musculoskeletal Health, Oslo universitetssykehus Ulleval, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Department of Health Management and Health Economics, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Health Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog, Norway.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a single treatment session of acupuncture, when applied in addition to standard treatment for acute low back pain (ALBP), reduces the time to recovery compared with standard treatment alone.

Design: A multicentre, randomised, controlled trial.

Setting: Conducted at 11 Norwegian general practitioners' (GPs') offices.

Participants: 171 adults aged 20-55 years seeking their GP for ALBP (≤14 days) between March 2014 and March 2017. Patients with secondary back pain and previous sick leave and acupuncture treatment was excluded.

Interventions: The participants were randomised to either the control group (CG) or the acupuncture group (AG) by online software. The CG received standard treatment according to the Norwegian guidelines, while the AG received one session of Western medical acupuncture treatment in addition to standard treatment. The statistician was blinded to group status.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome was median days to recovery. Secondary outcomes were pain intensity, global improvement, back-specific functional status, sick leave, medication and adverse effects.

Results: 185 participants were randomised, 95 in the CG and 90 in the AG. 14 participants did not receive the allocated intervention and 4 were excluded from the analysis. Thus, 167 participants were included in the analysis, 86 in the CG and 81 in the AG. The groups were similar according to baseline characteristics. The median time to recovery was 14 days for the CG and 9 days for the AG, HR 1.37 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.96), (p=0.089). No serious adverse effects were reported.

Conclusions: We did not find any statistically significant reduction in time-to-recovery after a single session of acupuncture for ALBP compared with standard care.

Trial registration number: NCT01439412.

Keywords: back pain; clinical trials; complementary medicine; pain management; primary care; rehabilitation medicine.

Publication types

Multicenter Study
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acupuncture Therapy*
Acupuncture*
Adult
Back Pain
General Practice*
Humans
Low Back Pain* / therapy
Middle Aged
Treatment Outcome
Young Adult

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01439412