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Lumbar discopathies are among the most common medical concerns in Europe and Spain. Globally, around 2-3% of the population is affected by this condition, which manifests as tingling, burning, itching, muscle weakness, limb pain, or allodynia. The most frequent cases involve lumbar disc herniations at the L4-L5 and L5-S1 levels, which typically compress the tibial nerve. This nerve provides motor and sensory innervation to the posterior knee, leg, foot sole, and posterior thigh.
Treatment options for lumbar discopathies range from pharmacological interventions (cytokine inhibitors, analgesics, muscle relaxants, corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and vitamin B12), to ozone injections, nerve root blocks, or surgeries like discectomy. However, conservative physiotherapy approaches, such as therapeutic exercise, axial decompression, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and peripheral electric stimulation, have gained attention for their efficacy in treating lumbar discopathy symptoms.
Physiotherapy uses electrical currents, applied either directly via needles under ultrasound guidance or non-invasively, to improve the quality of life for individuals with lumbar-origin peripheral nerve involvement. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous electrolysis (US-guided PE) is being explored for its fibrolytic effects in areas of tendon-nerve fibrosis, such as the proximal hamstring tendon and sciatic nerve, and its potential influence on the autonomic nervous system. This suggests that PE might depolarize peripheral nerve synapses, alleviating chronic irritability.
Although Valera et al. have investigated ultrasound-guided PE for neuropathies through the multifidus muscles, no studies have yet focused on PE near the tibial nerve, despite its high incidence in lumbar discopathy cases. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of US-guided PE on the tibial nerve in improving pain and muscle strength in patients with L4-L5 or L5-S1 posterolateral disc herniation compared to sham acupuncture.
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The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided percutaneous electrolysis (US-guided PE) in reducing pain and improving muscle strength in individuals with posterolateral lumbar disc herniations compared to placebo acupuncture.
To achieve this, a randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blindedclinical trial is proposed with two study groups:
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20 participants in 2 patient groups
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Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
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