Therapeutic Efficacy and the Impact of the “Dose” Effect of Acupuncture to Treat Sciatica: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study
Open accessAbstract
PURPOSE: To investigate the required sample size for and feasibility of a full-scale randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the "dose" effect of acupuncture in treating sciatica. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with sciatica, aged 35-70 years, were recruited and screened. Thirty-one participants were randomly assigned to receive "low-dose" manual acupuncture (MAL) (n= 15) or "high-dose" manual acupuncture (MAH) (n=16). The acupuncture treatment was administered twice weekly for 4 weeks. The primary outcome was the visual analog scale (VAS) score at baseline and after 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment. Secondary outcomes included the Roland Disability Questionnaire for Sciatica (RDQS), the Sciatica Bothersomeness Index (SBI), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life in the Brief Edition (WHOQOL-BREF) scores at baseline and after 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment. RESULTS: Thirty patients completed the study. For all patients, acupuncture achieved significant improvement in the VAS (5.48±2.0, p<0.001), RDQS (3.18±2.83, p=0.004), and SBI (2.85±3.23, p=0.008) scores, but not in the WHOQOL-BREF scores. In the between-group analysis, the assessed scales showed no significant differences between the MAL and MAH groups. However, based on the level of chronicity, the MAH group demonstrated greater improvement in the outcomes and a significant benefit in the physical subscale of the WHOQOL-BREF (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Results of this pilot study indicate that acupuncture is safe and may effectively relieve symptoms and disability in patients with non-acute sciatica. MAL was as effective as MAH in treating sciatica. A subsequent trial with a larger sample size (estimated at n=96) is required to confirm whether patients with a high level of chronicity would benefit from MAH treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03489681.
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The therapeutic "dose" of acupuncture appears to influence outcomes.
“The therapeutic “dose” of acupuncture—defined by frequency, duration, and number of sessions—appears to influence outcomes.93,”
From Acupuncture Therapy for Sciatica: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [93]
Liu CH (32) reported no significant difference in VAS.
“whereas Liu CH (32) reported no significant difference, potentially attributable to its smaller sample size (n = 15 in each group).”
From Effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic sciatica from herniated disks: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
The lack of significant difference in Liu CH (32) may be attributable to its smaller sample size.
“whereas Liu CH (32) reported no significant difference, potentially attributable to its smaller sample size (n = 15 in each group).”
From Effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic sciatica from herniated disks: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2026) · cites this paper as [32]
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- Authors
- Liu, C.-H., Kung, Y.-Y., Lin, C.-L., Yang, J.-L., Wu, T.-P., Lin, H.-C., Chang, Y.-K., Chang, C.-M., & Chen, F.-P.
- Affiliations
- Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital (TW)
- Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TW)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Fang-Pey
- Venue
- Journal of Pain Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-12
- Volume
- Volume 12
- Pages
- 3511-3520
- ISSN
- 1178-7090 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6942513
- OpenAlex
- W2996925171
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 2.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Pain Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- National Yang-Ming University (107F-M01)
- Taipei Veterans General Hospital (V107C-058)
- Lo-Hsu Medical Foundation, Lotung Poh-Ai Hospital
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Keywords
- acupuncture, sciatica, dosage effect, manual acupuncture, chronic sciatica, analgesia, disability, quality of life, sample size determination, feasibility
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