Acupuncture in Acute Nonspecific Low Back Pain
Condition: Low Back Pain
MeSH terms: Back Pain; Low Back Pain
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Acute low back pain is a common disorder in general practice. Some general practitioners
      (GPs) treat acute low back pain (LBP) with acupuncture, despite lacking evidence of its
      effectiveness for this condition.

      The aim of this study is to evaluate whether a single treatment-session with acupuncture can
      reduce time to recovery when applied in addition to standard LBP-treatment according to the
      Norwegian national guidelines. Analyses of prognostic factors for recovery and
      cost-effectiveness will also be carried out.

      The investigators hypotheses are:

        1. Acupuncture treatment contributes to faster pain-recovery in acute LBP compared to
           standard treatment in general practice provided in accordance with the Norwegian
           national guidelines.

        2. Acupuncture treatment for acute LBP improves function, and reduces drug use and sick
           leave, compared to the standard treatment in general practice provided in accordance
           with national guidelines.

        3. Acupuncture treatment for acute LBP is a cost-effective treatment in general practice.

      The investigators intend to include a total of 270 patients, 135 in the intervention group
      and 135 in the control group.

      The investigators planned to do an interim analysis when reaching inclusion of 150 patients.
      However, this might lead to reduced overall significance level, and as a result of slow
      inclusion rate (by December 2015), the investigators plan to extend the inclusion time with
      one year and then complete the study in March 2017.
    


Intervention name(s): Acupuncture and standard treatment; Standard treatment in general practice
Intervention type(s): Procedure; Other
Intervention description(s): This group will get standard treatment in general practice in accordance with national guidelines, i.e. general advice about activity, prescription of pain relievers (paracetamol, eventually ibuprofen and eventually tramadol), and eventually sick leave.
In addition they also will receive one treatment of standardized acupuncture procedure during the consultation.
The acupuncture treatment starts with distal points in the right hand: Lumbar Pain Points (Yaotongxue), strong stimulation for one minute. With the needles still positioned, the patient is instructed to make cautious back and hip movements in 2 minutes. Then the patient lies down on a bench to treat the local points Huatuojiaji ("Jiaji") bilaterally in the segments of the L2-L4 for 5 minutes.; This group will get standard treatment in general practice in accordance with national guidelines, i.e. general advice about activity, prescription of pain relievers (paracetamol, eventually ibuprofen and eventually tramadol), and eventually sick leave.
Other intervention name(s): Acupuncture needles:; Seirin B - 8a 0.30 x 30 mm on the Lumbar Pain Points.; Seirin J-8 with sleeve 0.30 x 50 mm on the Jiaji Points.; Standard treatment for low back pain
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Low back pain; Acupuncture; General practice