| BackgroundLumbar muscle strain is a common modern diseases, and is referred to as the "Bi Syndrome" of the waist in the context of traditional Chinese medicine, which often manifests low back pain as the chief compliant. Acupuncture is the most commonly used treatment option due to its prominent therapeutic effect, which is often combined with TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) machine (electro acupuncture) in the clinic nowadays. Based on clinical observation, we found that although acupuncture therapy has certain degree of pain relief effect on lumbar muscle strain, some patients stated the relief was only temporary, and the discomfort resumed once returning home from the clinic or reoccurred when experiencing change of weather. Therefore, the objective of the study is to find out a more effective and long lasting treatment option to supplement the current electro acupuncture plan. Acupoint herbal paste application therapy is currently one of the most common clinical option to compliment the conventional electro acupuncture treatment plan. The herbal paste is often comprised of multiple herbal ingredients to form a formula, which is time consuming to prepare, despite of its great therapeutic effect. As a result, the goal is to substitute the herbal formula paste with a paste composed of only a single herbal ingredient, and thus, Wu Zhu Yu, Evodia rutaecarpa or also known as Fructus Evodiae, was chosen. Wu Zhu Yu possess a warm property, and is greatly used for its ability to dispel cold, regulate qi, and alleviate pain. Upon research, we found it was often used as the single herbal ingredient in the acupoint herbal paste application for treating insomnia, abdominal pain, mouth sores, etc. It was, however, never been specifically used for treating Bi syndrome associated diseases. To back up our hypothesis, we made the preliminary experiments and found that the property of Wu Zhu Yu is also effective against Bi syndrome associated waist pain; hence, this study was designed to observe the effect of this therapy on lumbar muscle strain.ObjectiveThrough acupoint application with Wu Zhu Yu herbal paste, in conjunction with electro acupuncture, the goal is to find out a more efficient treatment option for the lumbar muscle strain, achieving the purpose of improving the therapy efficacy and promoting it in clinical practice.Methods60 patients, collected from the acupuncture clinic of First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who met the diagnostic criteria of lumbar muscle strain were randomly divided into treatment group and control group. The treatment group was treated with acupoint application using Wu Zhu Yu herbal paste in conjunction with conventional electro acupuncture, while the control group was treated with electro acupuncture only. The result was evaluated by scoring using the SF-MPQ form, namely the simplified McGill pain evaluation score table which contains PRI, VAS, and PPI scores. Through the assessment, we were able to observe changes in the indicators after two courses of treatment, and the data were then statistically analyzed to evaluate their efficacy.All data were applied using SPSS21.0 statistical software for statistical analysis and processing. All measurement data represent mean it standard deviation, and the two groups using t test, whereas the count data were compared with chi-square test. Test was considered statistically significant when P<0.05.Result1. Before treatment, the treatment and the control groups were assessed using SF-MPQ scores, and the t test. All P values are greater than 0.05, meaning the difference was not statistically significant, which indicates the pain situation of the two group subjects were comparable.2. After treatment, the SF-MPQ scores were significantly reduced when compare to that before treatment, and looking at the t test analysis, P was smaller than 0.05, which illustrates there was a significant difference before and after treatment, proving the therapeutic effect.3. After the first course and the second course of treatment, the SF-MPQ scores of the two groups were evaluated by t test, showing P values were less than 0.05, which indicates the difference was statistically significant, and the two groups are therefore comparable.4. After the first course and the second course of treatment, the SF-MPQ scores of both groups showed decrease in values, indicating there was a statistically significant difference over the same period of time between groups, with P<0.05. Moreover, all scores in the treatment group were lower than the control group, indicating there was an advantage in pain alleviation over the control group.5. Ridit test was used to compare the efficacy of two treatment groups. After completion of the first course and the second course of the treatment, the four SF-MPQ values were used to evaluate the efficiency. The overall efficacy index was calculated based on the good improvement rate and the total effective rate. The total effective rate of the treatment group after the first course of treatment was 93.33%, whereas the control group was 80.00%. However, the total effective rate at the end of the second course were all 100% for both groups.6. During the course of treatment, the basic vital signs of all 60 patients did not appear any abnormal changes. On the other hand, it is worth noting in the treatment group,2 patients’skin displayed minor local redness at the site of acupoint herbal paste application. The patients however, did not experience itching or other discomfort; hence, there was no missing treatment, and was only recorded as an adverse event.ConclusionBoth treatment groups displayed prominent therapeutic effect against lumbar muscle strain. The treatment group manifested a very high total effective rate after the first course of treatment (two weeks later), indicating that treatment combining with acupoint herbal paste application can achieve greater efficiency over the conventional electro acupuncture therapy. |
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