Comparing the effect of acupuncture and oral piroxicam in reduced pain and improved function of patient with chronic mechanical low back pain

Low Back pain (LBP) is extremely common. Studies have shown life time prevalence as high as %84. Mechanical chronic LBP (mechanical CLBP) is the leading cause of LBP that have a multifactorial cause, which includes functional instability, abnormal posture and emotional stress. Treatment of these patients is aimed to reduced pain, maintaining mobility, and minimizing disability. This study compares acupuncture vs. oral prioxicam in the reduced pain and Active Daily living (ADL) improvement in mechanical CLBP. In a randomized trial, 52 patients with mechanical CLBP were recruited using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria from Shiraz medical university clinics. All patients classified two groups: A group received acupuncture (2 sessions per week) and B group received Oral piroxicam (30 mg/day) for 2 weeks respectively. Evaluation tools were pain intensity (VAS) and ADLs at baseline, after and 4 weeks after treatment. The analyses of variance showed that means VAS of group A was 7.39±0.42, 3.88±0.96 and 3.02±0.52, and group B was 7.12±0.61, 4.55±0.93 and 3.91±0.28 at baseline, after and 4 weeks after treatment, respectively (p<0.005). Acupuncture was more effective than oral piroxicam in the reduced pain intensity and ADLs improvement of patients. However, preliminary results suggest that Long- term continuous treatment with acupuncture sustains the effectiveness in pain reduction.