A clinical trial is being carried out in Thimphu to test the efficacy and safety of warm acupuncture to treat sciatica, chronic pain in the lower body. The trial began yesterday and is being carried out at the traditional medicine hospital.
It is the first Traditional Medicine clinical trial in the country registered by the Research Ethics Board of Health.
Kinley Wangdi is one of the patients undergoing warm acupuncture therapy to treat his longstanding pain in the lower part of his body.
“It has been more than three years that I have suffered from sciatica. “I have received many orthopaedic treatments such as physiotherapy, MRI, CT scan, and taking medications but I have not recovered fully,” he said.
Warm acupuncture involves using heated needles. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of warm acupuncture to treat sciatica compared to modern medicine, specifically gabapentin.
“It aims at assessing the safety and efficacy of warm acupuncture in improving the pain severity, lower back pain, disability score, and quality of life in a patient with sciatica,” said Drungtsho Dorji Gyeltshen, Principal investigator of the clinical trial.
“In sciatica, warm acupuncture reduces the symptoms by relaxing tight muscles, improving blood circulation, and regulating the central nervous system and neurotransmitters,” he added.
Sciatica refers to pain that radiates from the lower back through the hips and buttocks and down each leg. Sciatica mostly affects only one side of a person’s body.
70 patients with sciatica will be recruited from the Orthopedic Outpatient Department of the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital for the study. Half of them will receive three sessions of warm acupuncture in a week. The other half will be given the gabapentin medication.
“Recruitment of participants is done from the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital. If there are patients suffering from sciatica they are most welcome to come forward for the treatment. They can come to the orthopaedic at JDWNRH,” said Dorji Gyeltshen.
He added that warm acupuncture has been reported to treat numerous diseases, including sciatica, by traditional medicine practitioners in several countries. The project is expected to be complete by June this year.
Kinzang Lhadon
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
