Tuina-focused integrative chinese medical therapies for inpatients with low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 


Author: Kong LJ, Fang M, Zhan HS, Yuan WA, Pu JH, Cheng YW, Chen B.

Affiliation: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200437, China ; Research Institute of Tuina, Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China. 
Conference/Journal: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 
Date published: 2012
Other:
 Volume ID: 2012   ,  Pages: 578305   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1155/2012/578305   ,  Word Count: 191  
    

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of Tuina-focused integrative Chinese medical therapies (TICMT) on inpatients with low back pain (LBP). Methods. 6 English and Chinese databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TICMT for in-patients with LBP. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed based on PEDro scale. And the meta-analyses of TICMT for LBP on pain and functional status were conducted. Results. 20 RCTs were included. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was poor. The meta-analyses' results showed that TICMT had statistically significant effects on pain and functional status, especially Tuina plus Chinese herbal medicine (standardised mean difference, SMD: 1.17; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.60 on pain; SMD: 1.31; 95% CI 0.49 to 2.14 on functional status) and Tuina plus acupuncture (SMD: 0.94; 95% CI 0.38 to 1.50 on pain; SMD: 0.53; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.85 on functional status). But Tuina plus moxibustion or hot pack did not show significant improvements on pain. And the long-term evidence of TICMT was far from sufficient. Conclusions. The preliminary evidence from current studies suggests that TICMT might be effective complementary and alternative treatments for in-patients with LBP. However, the poor methodological quality of the included RCTs means that high-quality RCTs with long follow-up are warranted.

PMID: 23346207