Stimulated by Pham et al 2021.[1] Photo by Alexandru G Stavrică on Unsplash.Woman in a field of poppies... the original source of opiates – the natural subset of opioids. NSAIDs – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugsPT – physical therapyTENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulationED – emergency departmentkey to acronyms This is another large retrospective observational cohort trial, … Continue reading Does acupuncture reduce opioid use?
Category: Back pain
Context effects in LBP
Stimulated by Bishop et al 2021.[1] Photo by Benjamin Wedemeyer on Unsplash. LBP – low back painRCT – randomised controlled trialRMDQ – Rowland Morris Disability QuestionnaireMCID – minimum clinically important differencekey to acronyms I have been interested in context effects since Fabrizio Benedetti described the dramatic difference between open and closed administration of opioids in … Continue reading Context effects in LBP
POCUS for pneumothorax
Stimulated by Weagle et al 2020.[1] Photo by Pavan Krishna on Unsplash. POCUS – point of care ultrasoundPOTUS – president of the United StatesUS – ultrasoundTV – television (the original ones were black and white)key to acronyms Not another case report of pneumothorax I hear you cry, that is not news to the acupuncture community. … Continue reading POCUS for pneumothorax
Consider acupuncture for chronic pain
Stimulated by NG193.[1] Photo by Arno Smit on Unsplash. NICE – National Institute for Health & Care ExcellencecLBP – chronic low back painMSK – musculoskeletalGERAC – German acupuncture trials (large 3 arm trials with ~1000 patients in each)MCID – minimum clinical important differenceLA – local anaestheticCRPS – complex regional pain syndromeRFD – radiofrequency denervation. key … Continue reading Consider acupuncture for chronic pain
EA for LBP after back surgery
Stimulated by Heo et al 2020,[1] and Choo et al 2021.[2] Image created by MC EA – electroacupunctureLBP – low back painSR – systematic reviewUC – usual careQoL – quality of lifeCAM – complementary and alternative medicinekey to acronyms I was attracted to Heo et al because it involved EA and was published in the … Continue reading EA for LBP after back surgery
Acupuncture for cLBP
Stimulated by Mu et al 2020.[1] On the beach 50 steps from the conference centre in Porto de Galinhas in October 2009. Thanks to Jens for the shoes. cLBP –chronic non-specific low back painSRs – systematic reviewskey to acronyms There was no choice for me this week, after 15 years Andrea has finally succeeded (with … Continue reading Acupuncture for cLBP
EA for cLBP
Inspired by Kong J-T et al 2020.[1] Photo by Sam Burriss on Unsplash.Non-white race was associated with a greater degree of pain reduction following EA for cLBP. EA – electroacupuncturecLBP – chronic low back painPROMIS – patient reported outcome measurement information systemNIH – National Institute of Health (US)RMDQ – Roland Morris disability questionnaireQST – quantitative … Continue reading EA for cLBP
The amygdala and Rx of cLBP
Stimulated by Yu et al 2020,[1] and Zhang et al 2020.[2] Image from Federico Beccari on Unsplash. The key paper I am highlighting this week comes from the same imaging centre in Boston that gave us Rewiring the brain with acupuncture.[1] It was another paper that I nearly missed, but a subsequent paper in Acupuncture … Continue reading The amygdala and Rx of cLBP
Adrenaline Athletes and Acupuncture
Stimulated by Arriaga-Pizano et al 2020.[1] Image by Cesar Marquez on Unsplash. This paper was published online on 20th May, and it took me a while before I had a closer look and discovered that it is really quite unique. It was a subsequent paper published a week later, a systematic review of acupuncture in low back pain … Continue reading Adrenaline Athletes and Acupuncture
Sciatica 2020
Stimulated by Jeong et al,[1] and Huang et al.[2] Screengrab from Day 19 of ‘What’s the point’. I am highlighting 2 papers. The first listed above is most recent and raises some interesting points, but the second paper, which is from last year, is more important from my perspective. I reviewed the latter for the … Continue reading Sciatica 2020










You must be logged in to post a comment.