• Zongshi Qin, Yulong Ding, Chang Xu, Kwong Joey S W JSW Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China., Yuan Ji, Aimin Wu, Jiani Wu, and Zhishun Liu.
• Department of Acupuncture and Neurology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, China.
• Am. J. Med. 2020 Apr 1; 133 (4): 500-507.e20.

BackgroundAcupuncture is commonly used to treat degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis in Asian countries. However, rigorous data regarding the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for aging patients are currently lacking.MethodsEighty patients older than 50 years were assigned randomly to the acupuncture group or the noninsertive sham acupuncture for 24 treatments over an 8-week period. Measurements were obtained at baseline and 4 and 8 weeks of treatment; and 3 and 6 months after completion of treatment. The primary outcome was a change in the 24-point Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire scores at the end of treatment. The secondary outcomes included disability, pain intensity, symptoms, and dysfunction.ResultsAt the end of treatment, mean changes in the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire were -4.1 (95% CI, -4.9 to -3.3) in the acupuncture group and -1.5 (95% CI, -2.3 to -0.7) in the sham group, with a statistically significant between-group difference: -2.6 (95% CI, -3.7 to -1.4). Acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture in reducing pain intensity (between-group difference: -2.9 [95% CI, -3.8 to -2.0] in leg and buttock pain, vs -2.3 [95% CI, -3.0 to -1.5] in back pain), symptoms and dysfunction (between-group difference: -0.9 [95% CI, -1.2 to -0.6] in symptom subscale, and -0.8 [95% CI, -1.1 to -0.5] in dysfunction subscale).ConclusionsAcupuncture provides immediate functional recovery and pain relief for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. However, current evidence is insufficient to support the suggestion that acupuncture could offer clinical benefits as compared with noninsertive sham acupuncture for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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