ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO ENTRE LA FISIOTERAPIA Y LA ELECTROACUPUNTURA EN PACIENTES CON LUMBALGIA

Abstract

Authors: De la Cruz Alvarado J. D., Ordoñez Rodríguez J. M. & Reyes López C. A. S. Keywords: Low back pain, electroacupuncture, physiotherapy. Background: Low back pain is nowadays a very common disease, it is estimated that up to 80% of the population suffers from at least once in their life. In Mexico, low back pain is within the top five causes that warrant medical attention at different levels of attention of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. Chinese Traditional Medicine considers a blockage or obstruction of circulation in the channels and collaterals affected by external pathogenic factors, internal and / or miscellaneous. Among the complementary therapies is the electroacupuncture method has shown good results in pain management when used properly. Objective: To evaluate the effect of electroacupuncture and physiotherapy in patients with low back pain. Methods: We conducted a controlled clinical trial, randomized, prospective, qualitative and comparative, in a group of 30 patients aged 25 to 60 years with a diagnosis of low back pain, the patients were divided into three groups, a first group application acupuncture at points Shenshu (V23) and Dachangshu (V25), a second group with the implementation of electroacupuncture in dense dispersal of 2 - 100 Hz at points Shenshu (V23) and Dachangshu (V25), and a third group that physiotherapy was applied base to warm moist compresses, while TENS, therapeutic ultrasound then applying a variable rate ranging from an intensity of 1.5 W/cm2 to 2 W/cm2 and back massage to relax and release of adhesions. The three treatments with a total of 12 sessions. Patients were evaluated with visual analog scale (VAS) and lumbar disability test Oswestry and Roland Morris. Results: The analysis of the VAS the three groups had a statistically significant difference in pain relief by noting that the three treatments are effective in the management of patients with low back pain. The analysis of the VAS footage early, middle and end showed no statistically significant difference, which translates into a similar performance between the different treatment groups. Analysis of the Oswestry test showed no significant difference for the acupuncture XVI XVII group, second for electroacupuncture and physiotherapy groups did show statistical significance suggesting that both treatments are effective in significantly altering disability in the patients studied, unlike acupuncture. The intergroup analysis for footage early, middle and end of test no statistically significant difference, and suggest that the three treatments are similar modifying the disability measured by this test. To test the Roland Morris no significance was found for the acupuncture group while in the electroacupuncture group and the physiotherapy group, the difference was statistically significant. Finally the intergroup analysis for footage early, middle and end of the test suggested the same behavior for the three treatments, no statistically significant differences. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a statistically significant difference in back pain and functional disability after electroacupuncture treatment on the subjects studied. At the same time suggests the importance of electrical stimulation in improving functional disability, which is not obtained in the acupuncture group studied. On the other hand shows a statistically significant difference in pain and disability after treatment with physiotherapy. However, it finds no significant difference between treatment and the other, observing a similar behavior among them.