Action of ear acupuncture in people with chronic pain in the spinal column: a randomized clinical trial1

Caroline de Castro Moura, Denise Hollanda Iunes, Silvia Graciela Ruginsk, Valéria Helena Salgado Souza, Bianca Bacelar de Assis, Erika de Cássia Lopes Chaves, Caroline de Castro Moura, Denise Hollanda Iunes, Silvia Graciela Ruginsk, Valéria Helena Salgado Souza, Bianca Bacelar de Assis, Erika de Cássia Lopes Chaves

Abstract

Objectives: to assess the action of ear acupuncture on disability and tissue temperature in people with chronic pain in the spinal column.

Method: a clinical trial with a sample of 110 people, randomized into three groups: Treatment, Placebo and Control. The assessment instruments were the Rolland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and a thermographic camera, administered before the first treatment session, one week after and 15 days after (follow-up) the fifth session of ear acupuncture. In the analysis of the data, the Kruskal Wallis, Student-Newman Keuls and Wilcoxon tests were applied.

Results: there was a significant reduction in disability in the Treatment and Placebo groups between the initial and final assessments (p<0.05) and between the initial assessments and follow-up (p<0.05). In the final assessment, the Treatment group presented improvement of disability when compared with the Placebo and Control groups (p<0.05). There was an increase in mean tissue temperature of the dorsal region between the initial and follow-up assessments in Treatment and Control groups (p<0.05), and between the final assessments and follow-up in the Treatment and Placebo groups (p<0.05).

Conclusion: ear acupuncture was efficacious in reducing disability and increasing tissue temperature in people with chronic pain in the spinal column. Brazilian Register of Clinical Trials (RBR-5X69X2).

Figures

Figure 1. Flowchart of the participants involved…
Figure 1. Flowchart of the participants involved in the study. Alfenas, MG, Brazil, 2016

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