Effectiveness of heat-sensitive moxibustion in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

• Main Authors: Yi Fan, Xiong Jun, Chen Rixin, Chen Mingren, Chi Zhenhai, Zhang Bo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2011-10-01
• Series: Trials
• Online Access: http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/12/1/226

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lumbar disc herniation is a common and costly problem. Moxibustion is employed to relieve symptoms and might therefore act as a therapeutic alternative. Many studies have already reported encouraging results in heat-sensitive moxibustion for lumbar disc herniation. Hence, we designed a randomized controlled clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of heat-sensitive moxibustion compared with conventional moxibustion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This trial is a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial. The 316 eligible patients are randomly allocated to two different groups. The experimental group is treated with heat-sensitive moxibustion (n = 158); while the control group (n = 158) is treated with conventional moxibustion. The moxibustion locations are different for the groups. The experimental group selects heat-sensitization acupoints from the region which consists of bilateral Da Changshu (BL25) and Yao Shu (Du2). Meanwhile, fixed acupoints are used in control group; patients in both groups receive 18 sessions in 2 weeks.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The study design guarantees a high internal validity for the results. It is one large-scale randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of heat-sensitive moxibustion compared to conventional moxibustion and may provide evidence for this therapy as a treatment for moderate and severe lumbar disc herniation. Moreover, the result may uncover the inherent laws to improve the therapeutic effect with suspended moxibustion.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The trial is registered at Chinese Clinical Trials Registry: ChiCTR-TRC-09000604. The application date was 27 November 2009. The first patient was randomized on the 16 June 2011.</p>