Prospects for Acupuncture Treatment for Low Back Pain

Kiyokazu Akasaka; Motohiro Inoue; Miwa Nakajima; Tomokazu Kikuchi; Satoru Yamaguchi; Hiroshi Kondo

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Prospects for Acupuncture Treatment for Low Back Pain

VernacularTitle:腰痛に対する鍼灸治療の展望
Author: Kiyokazu AKASAKA ¹ ; Motohiro INOUE ² ; MIWA NAKAJIMA ³ ; Tomokazu KIKUCHI ⁴ ; Satoru YAMAGUCHI ⁵ ; Hiroshi KONDO ⁶
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1. Master's and Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy, Saitama Medical University Graduate School of Medicine
2. School of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health and Medical Care, Saitama Medical University
3. Department of Acupuncture, Faculty of Health Care Sciences, Takarazuka University of Medical and Health Care
4. Kyoto Shijo-Karasuma Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Doktor Research Institute of Acupuncture 　 and Moxibustion Medicine
5. The Japan of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Physiotherapy College
6. The Institute of Oriental Medicine
Keywords: Low back pain; Acupuncture
From:Journal of the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion 2023;73(2):100-111
CountryJapan
Language:Japanese
Abstract: Low back pain is ranked number one burden of disease and a symptom that afflicts people worldwide. Although many cases of low back pain are considered non-specific, there is no unified agreement on the classification method. Furthermore, the biopsychosocial model is used as an interpretation model for understanding low back pain. Therefore, the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for low back pain must be verified while clearly identifying the perspective from which low back pain is viewed and considering psychological factors. In this symposium, lectures were given by Akasaka, Inoue, Kikuchi, and Kondo. Akasaka explained specific and non-specific low back pain from the perspective of a physical therapist. Specifically, he presented the classification of low back pain based on structural anatomy of the musculoskeletal system such as facet joint, myofascial, and intervertebral discogenic pain as non-specific low back pain, and explained about the effectiveness of physical therapy. Inoue presented the results of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture treatment in patients with low back and lower limb pain that he had conducted. He also discussed the importance of needling at specific points such as the erector spinae group of muscles after carefully palpating these points. Furthermore, Inoue outlined the effects of needling along nerve pathways in patients with lower limb symptoms. Kikuchi reported the results of a retrospective observational study on the effectiveness of acupuncture in treatment of low back pain by classifying patients according to their movement reproducibility. He well stated that patients with movement reproducibility showed more improvement in low back pain-related quality of life. Kondo elaborated on how psychosocial factors in patients with low back pain could affect the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment. He also reported that the less catastrophic thinking about pain was, the greater effectiveness of acupuncture treatment was. In addition, Kondo also indicated that the lower risk on the Subgrouping for Targeted Treatment Back Screening Tool was, the more easily reduced pain was.We hope that the content of this symposium would serve as a valuable resource for clinical, research, and educational activities starting tomorrow.