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Effectiveness and Safety of Pharmacopunture Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

Effectiveness and Safety of Pharmacopunture Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04833309
Enrollment
100
Registered
2021-04-06
Start date
2021-06-10
Completion date
2022-02-26
Last updated
2024-12-18

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Chronic Low-back Pain

Brief summary

This is a multi-center, 2-arm parallel pragmatic randomized controlled trial that will compare pharmacopuncture therapy with physical therapy for chronic low back pain.

Detailed description

This is a multi-center, 2-arm parallel pragmatic randomized controlled trial that will compare pharmacopuncture therapy with physical therapy for chronic low back pain. Participants who voluntarily signed informed consent form and eligible for the study were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio (50:50) for pharmacopuncture therapy group and physical therapy group. Participants of each group will receive total 5 weeks of intervention. This is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial, so physicians will have medical decision making according to each participant's conditions and choose the specific type and volume of pharmacopuncture and physical therapy.

Interventions

The procedure will be implemented to participants twice a week for total 5 weeks. The specific prescription including type and dosage will be determined according to the physician's choice, and information will be recorded in the case report form retrospectively.

PROCEDUREphysical therapy

The procedure will be implemented to participants twice a week for total 5 weeks. The specific prescription including type and body part will be determined according to the physician's choice, and information will be recorded in the case report form retrospectively.

Sponsors

Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine
CollaboratorOTHER_GOV
Jaseng Medical Foundation
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
19 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. low back pain for more than 6 months 2. Numeric rating scale (NRS) score for low back pain 5 or more 3. 19-70 years old 4. participants who agreed and signed informed consent form

Exclusion criteria

1. Spine metastasis of cancer, acute fracture of spine, or spine dislocation 2. Progressive neurologic deficits or severe neurologic deficits 3. Soft tissue diseases that can induce low back pain (ie. cancer, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, etc) 4. Presence of chronic underlying disease which can interfere the efficacy or interpretation (ie. stroke, myocardial infarct, kidney disease, dementia, diabetic neuropathy, epilepsy, etc) 5. Concurrent use of steroids, immunosuppressants, or psychotropic medications 6. Hemorrhagic disease, severe diabetes or taking anticoagulant drug 7. Participants who took NSAIDs or pharmacopuncture within 1 week 8. Pregnant or lactating women 9. Participants who had undergone lumbar surgery within 3 months 10. Participants who had participated in other clinical trial within 1 month, or have plan for participation in other trial during follow up period of this trial 11. Participants who can not write informed consent 12. Participants who is difficult to participate in the trial according to investigator's decision

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Numeric rating scale (NRS) of low-back painweek 6NRS is a pain scale in which the patient indicates their subjective pain as a whole number from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates 'no pain or discomfort' and 10 indicates 'the most severe pain and discomfort imaginable'.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Numeric rating scale (NRS) of radiating pain in lower extremitiesweek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 25NRS is a pain scale in which the patient indicates their subjective pain as a whole number from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates 'no pain or discomfort' and 10 indicates 'the most severe pain and discomfort imaginable'.
Visual analogue scale (VAS) of leg radiating painweek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 25Visual analogue scale of radiating leg pain, minimum 0 to maximum 100, which is a higher score means a worse outcome.
Visual analogue scale (VAS) of low-back painweek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 25Visual analogue scale of radiating leg pain, minimum 0 to maximum 100, which is a higher score means a worse outcome.
Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)week 1, 6, 13, 25ODI is a functional disability questionnaire. The possible range of each item score is 0 to 5. Total score range is 0 (better outcome) to 100 (worse outcome).
Numeric rating scale (NRS) of low-back painweek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 25NRS is a pain scale in which the patient indicates their subjective pain as a whole number from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates 'no pain or discomfort' and 10 indicates 'the most severe pain and discomfort imaginable'.
Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC)week 6, 13, 25Participants rate the improvement after treatment on a 7-point Likert scale (1, very much improved; 2, much improved; 3, minimally improved; 4, no change; 5, minimally worse; 6, much worse; or 7, very much worse.)
Short Form-12 Health Survey version 2 (SF-12 v2)week 1, 6, 13, 25The SF-12 consists of 12 questions across 8 domains, and higher scores indicate better health-related quality of life.
EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D-5L)week 1, 6, 13, 25The EQ-5D-5L consists of 5 questions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain, anxiety/depression) that ask about the current state of health, and answers each question with 5 likert. (1=I have no problems about, 2=I have slight problems about, 3=I have moderate problems about, 4=I have severe problems about, 5=I am unable to about)
Korean version of the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)week 1, 6, 13, 25The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire consists of 24 statements relating to the person's perceptions of their back pain and associated disability. This includes items on physical ability/activity (15), sleep/rest (3), psychosocial (2), household management (2), eating (1) and pain frequency (1). There is no weighting applied to the statements, therefore the score can range from 0 (no disability) to 24 (maximal disability).

Countries

South Korea

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 11, 2026