Laser Acupuncture Therapy in Postpartum Low Back Pain

Chang Gung Medical Foundation

Status: Completed

Conditions: Lower Back Pain; Postpartum Period

Treatments: Procedure: Laser acupuncture treatment

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04238117

CMRPG8G0941

Details and patient eligibility

About

Over half of women after giving birth have low back pain (LBP), however, LBP is often accepted as a normal part of postpartum. Unsolved low back pain undoubtedly affects women's physical health and may be negatively affect their psychological health. This study was aimed to investigate the efficacy of laser acupuncture therapy (LAT) in postpartum LBP. Postpartum women with LBP admitted at a postpartum care center were recruited and randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. The participants in the intervention group underwent 10 sessions/2 weeks of LAT and received standard obstetric care. The participants in the control group only received standard obstetric care. Primary outcome measurements were Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain and salivary cortisol values. Secondary outcome measurements were Chinese versions of the Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) version 2.1and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).

Enrollment: 106 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 20+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Age not less than 20 years
2. Women postpartum within one month
3. Low back pain with visual analogue scale (VAS) score ≧1
4. Low back pain was not relieved by rest for 30 minutes.

Exclusion criteria

1. with systemic diseases
2. with cancers
3. with psychiatric diseases
4. under treatment for severe pain by a physician.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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106 participants in 2 patient groups

LA group

Experimental group

Description:

The participants in LAT group underwent 10 sessions of LAT over 2 weeks, using a gallium aluminum arsenide Laser Pen. The participants in the LAT group received 0.375 J of energy at each of the following acupoints bilaterally: BL23 (Shenshu, B2), BL25 (Dachangshu, B2), BL26 (Guanyuanshu, B2), BL40 (Weizhong, B2) and SP6 (Sanyinjiao, B2).

Treatment:

Procedure: Laser acupuncture treatment

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The participants of the control group received standard obstetric care.