World’s largest trial finds acupuncture as effective as pain medicine

Acupuncture remains a hugely popular alternative treatment with many mamas-to-be for treating nausea and pain, but it is rarely used in hospital environments.

Throughout the years, acupuncture - an ancient form of Chinese medicine - has been used to treat a wide variety of health conditions including repetitive strain injury, stress, anxiety, headaches, sciatica, back problems, neck and shoulder pain, sports injuries, gynaecological and menstrual disorders, and arthritis. However, this popular form of alternative medicine has yet to find its way into hospital environments. Now, Australian researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne have published findings from the world's largest randomised controlled trial of the use of acupuncture in clinical environments. The trial, conducted in the emergency departments of four Melbourne hospitals, found acupuncture was as effective as pain medicine in providing long-term relief for patients who came to emergency in significant pain. Lead investigator Professor Marc Cohen, from RMIT's School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, said pain is the most common reason people present to emergency departments, but it is often inadequately managed:

"While acupuncture is widely used by practitioners in community settings for treating pain, it is rarely used in hospital emergency departments. Emergency nurses and doctors need a variety of pain-relieving options when treating patients, given the concerns around opioids such as morphine, which carry the risk of addiction when used long-term."

Professor Cohen says that acupuncture should be considered as a possible alternative to pharmaceutical pain relief:

"Our study has shown acupuncture is a viable alternative, and would be especially beneficial for patients who are unable to take standard pain-relieving drugs because of other medical conditions. But it's clear we need more research overall to develop better medical approaches to pain management, as the study also showed patients initially remained in some pain, no matter what treatment they received."

The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia and funded by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council, involved 528 patients with acute low back pain, migraine or ankle sprains. Patients who identified their level of pain as at least four on a ten-point scale randomly received one of three types of treatment: acupuncture alone, acupuncture plus pharmacotherapy or pharmacotherapy alone. One hour after treatment, less than 40 percent of patients across all three groups felt any significant pain reduction (two or more pain points), while more than 80 percent continued to have a pain rating of at least four. But 48 hours later, the vast majority found their treatment acceptable, with 82.8 percent of acupuncture-only patients saying they would probably or definitely repeat their treatment, compared with 80.8 percent in the combined group, and 78.2 percent in the pharmacotherapy-only group. But, Professor Cohen says there are practicalities in implementing this type of pain management:

"Some Australian emergency departments already offer acupuncture when trained staff are available but further studies are needed on ways to improve pain management overall in emergency departments, and the potential role for acupuncture in this. We need to determine the conditions that are most responsive to acupuncture, the feasibility of including the treatment in emergency settings, and the training needed for doctors or allied health personnel."