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Completed

NCT Number: NCT06868173

Trigger Point Electroacupuncture Treatment in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain

Electroacupuncture is an application of acupuncture combined with electrical stimulation of acupuncture points through acupuncture needles to achieve faster pain relief than acupuncture. Recently, research has shown that Trigger point acupuncture has a significant effect in reducing pain better than acupuncture on acupoints in patients with chronic low back pain. However, no research has compared the pain relief effect between Trigger Point electroacupuncture and electroacupuncture on acupoints in patients with chronic low back pain. This study was conducted to address this question.

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Key information

Conditions

Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) Back Pain Low Back Pain Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms Trigger Points

Age range

20 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Medical Center HCMC - Branch no.3, Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

About this study

Participants and Methods: A blinded randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted involving 60 chronic low back pain participants, randomly divided into two groups (A and B): 30 receiving electroacupuncture at the Trigger point (group A) and 30 receiving electroacupuncture on the meridian (group B) for 10 sessions. The primary outcomes were visual analogue scale (VAS), BPI index, and Trigger point count.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients aged 20 or older who consented to participate in the study;
  • Individuals experiencing LBP persisting for more than 3 months with an average VAS score of 5 cm or over;
  • Patients displaying trigger points in back

Exclusion criteria

  • Major trauma or systemic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, Scheuermann disease;
  • Systemic symptoms such as weight loss, fever of unknown origin, anorexia, personal history of malignancy, diffuse pain and joint stiffness;
  • Symptoms of infection such as fever, meningeal irritation signs, photophobia;
  • Symptoms of central motor neuron damage such as Hoffmann sign, Babinski sign, hyperreflexia, spasticity, incontinence, sexual dysfunction;
  • Symptoms of serious acute diseases such as myocardial infarction (chest pain, sweating, shortness of breath), arterial dissections (tearing sensation, headache, blurred vision);
  • Conditions unsuitable for acupuncture such as inflammation of skin in need of acupuncture, weak or exhausted patients, severe comorbidities;
  • Being treated with other methods. Elimination criteria: Patients experiencing adverse events from the intervention leading to their discomfort and withdrawal from the study

Treatment and study plan

electro-acupuncture

Device

Electroacupuncture at Trigger Points is electroacupuncture at predetermined trigger points. Electroacupuncture at traditional acupoints is electroacupuncture at the following points: Jiaji (L2-L5), Yaoyangguan (GV3), Shendu (BL23), Dachangdu (BL25), and Weizhong (BL40).

Primary outcomes

  1. Comparison of VAS pain intensity between electroacupuncture at the trigger point and electroacupuncture traditional point group

    Time frame: Baseline, after 3 sessions, after 5 sessions, after 7 sessions, after 10 sessions

    With the VAS, participants were asked to make a hatch mark on a 100 mm line that represents their average pain intensity. These were then converted to a numerical score for each face (i.e. 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10), depending on the face selected. The end-point descriptors for VAS was "No pain" (0, 0 mm, and the face representing no pain, respectively) and "The most intense pain imaginable" (10, 100 mm, and the face representing the most intense pain level, respectively).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Comparison of BPI index between electroacupuncture at the trigger point and electroacupuncture traditional point group.

    Time frame: Baseline, after 5 sessions, and after 10 sessions

    The BPI gives two main scores: a pain severity score and a pain interference score. The pain severity score is calculated from the four items about pain intensity. Each item is rated from 0, no pain, to 10, pain as bad as you can imagine, and contributes with the same weight to the final score, ranging from 0 to 40. The pain interference score corresponds to the item on pain interference. The seven sub-items (general activity, mood, walking ability, normal walk, relations with other people, sleep, and enjoyment of life) are rated from 0, does not interfere, to 10, completely interferes, and contributes with the same weight to the final score, ranging from 0 to 70. The first item, pain drawing diagrams (painful and most painful areas) and the items on pain relief treatment or medication (list of the treatments and amount of relief) do not contribute to the scoring. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete the BPI.

Other outcomes

  1. Comparison of trigger point count between electroacupuncture at the trigger point and electroacupuncture traditional point group

    Time frame: Baseline, after 5 sessions, and after 10 sessions

    Determine the number of trigger points at each survey time.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Evaluation of the Analgesic Efficacy of Trigger Point Electroacupuncture in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: a Blinded Randomised Controlled Trial

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2025
First posted
Mar 10, 2025
Registry last updated
Aug 29, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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