Avaliação do efeito da acupuntura auricular na vertente francesa sobre a dor crônica musculoesquelética: um ensaio clínico randomizado

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of French auricular acupuncture in reducing chronic pain in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions in people with musculoskeletal disorders. This is a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial of 111 patients with spinal pain. They were randomized into three distinct groups, called the Treated Group (GT; n = 37), Placebo Group (GP; n = 37) and Control Group (CG; n = 37). Three evaluations were performed prior to performing the protocol atrial acupuncture intervention, after the last intervention and 15 days after the final evaluation (follow up). In all evaluations, the same instruments were used, the Brief Inventory of Pain (BIS) questionnaire, to characterize the pain; The Roland Moris Disability Questionnaire (QIRM); The digital algometer, for the measurement of the threshold of pressure pain and the thermographic camera for the measurement of temperature. The GT received the protocol acupuncture intervention on the French plank, the GP received a stimulus at a point that was not related to the focus of the study and the CG received no intervention. The interventions were carried out over a period of five weeks, one per week. The presence of pain increased in the CG (p = 0.048), while it decreased in the GT and GP. It was also possible to observe statistically significant values in the presence of pain in the cervical region, which obtained improvement in both GT and GP after the final evaluation (p = 0.035) and follow up (p = 0.024) and remained constant in the CG. When assessing pain over time, it was found that the GT presented a significant difference between the initial evaluation and the final evaluation (p = 0.039), since 26.4% of the volunteers no longer felt pain. In the BPI evaluation, it was observed that there was a significant reduction of the average pain after the five sessions of auricular acupuncture and that this result remained constant 15 days after the end of the treatment. According to the Roland Morris Questionnaire, the data show that the level of disability in both the Treated Group and the GP decreased after the five sessions of auricular acupuncture, that is, they became more capable of carrying out day-to-day activities . The mean pain tolerance for algometry was inversely proportional to the report of pain relief. When evaluating the temperature of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions, it was noticed that there was no significant difference between the groups. However, when analyzing the comparisons, it is observed that there is statistical difference in the three groups between initial evaluation and final evaluation. These data show that the average temperature increased after the proposed treatment. Thus, it is concluded that French protocol auricular acupuncture was effective to treat chronic pain in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions in people with musculoskeletal disorders, due to the reduction of pain intensity, the improvement of the degree of incapacity of the volunteers and in the Increase in body temperature