Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Combined with Chinese Herbal Medicine on Pain Intensity for Chronic Sciatica Secondary to Lumbar Disc Herniation: Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial

Jing-Chun Xia; Yu-Cheng Huang; Ke Wu; Jian Pang; Ying Shi

doi:10.2147/JPR.S448631

Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Combined with Chinese Herbal Medicine on Pain Intensity for Chronic Sciatica Secondary to Lumbar Disc Herniation: Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial

J Pain Res. 2024 Apr 8:17:1381-1391. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S448631. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jing-Chun Xia^#^{1

2}, Yu-Cheng Huang^#^{1

2}, Ke Wu^{1

2}, Jian Pang^{1

2}, Ying Shi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shi's Center of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
² Institute of Traumatology & Orthopedics, Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Chinese herbal medicine and electroacupuncture (EA) have been used to control pain for many decades in China. We aim to explore the efficacy of intervening patients whose discogenic sciatica symptoms lasting longer than 3 months with these conservative treatments.

Patients and methods: This is a single-center, parallel-group, patient-unblinded Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with blinded outcome assessment and statistician. One hundred and twenty-four patients will be assigned randomly into 2 groups including conservative treatment group (Shenxie Zhitong capsule combined with EA treatment) and Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs, NSAIDs) control group (Celecoxib) in a 1:1 ratio. The trial involves a 4-week treatment along with follow-up for 6 months. The primary outcome is the leg pain intensity measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS) at 6 months after randomization. Secondary outcomes include leg pain intensity at other time points, back pain intensity, leg pain and back pain frequency, functional status, quality of life, return to work status and satisfaction of patients. Adverse events will also be recorded.

Strengths and limitations of this study: Through this study, we want to observe the efficacy of electroacupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine on pain intensity for chronic sciatica secondary to Lumbar Disc Herniation. If the final results are favorable, it is expected to be a safe, economical, and effective treatment for patients. The study design has the following limitations: the setup of control group was less than perfect; patients and doctors could not be blinded in this trial; we skipped the feasibility study. We have tried our best to minimize adverse impacts.

Trial registration: ChiCTR2300070884 (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, http://www.chictr.org.cn, registered on 25th April 2023).

Keywords: celecoxib; electroacupuncture treatment; protocol; sciatica of lumbar disc herniation; shenxie zhitong capsule; single-center randomized controlled trial.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the three-year action plan of speeding up the inheritance, innovation and development of TCM supported by Shanghai(2021-2023) (ZY (2021-2023)-0209-02); Shanghai Municipal Clinical Research Center for Chronic Musculoskeletal Conditions (no. 20MC1920600); Shanghai High-Level Local University Innovation Team (SZY20220315); Shanghai clinical specialty “traditional Chinese medicine orthopaedic traumatology” (shslczdzk03901).