Battlefield Acupuncture as an Adjunct to Electroacupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain Due to Lumbar Spine Osteoarthritis

Brief Summary

Chronic low back pain due to lumbar spine osteoarthritis is a common and disabling condition. Many patients do not get enough relief from standard treatments. Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) is a type of ear acupuncture used by the US military for rapid pain relief, but it has not been studied as an add-on to electroacupuncture (a standard acupuncture technique) in Vietnam. From March 2025 to July 2025, at the Faculty of Acupuncture and Life Cultivation, University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City Branch 3, and the Faculty of Traditional Medicine, Thong Nhat Hospital, sixty adults with chronic low back pain due to lumbar spine osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups received 10 sessions of electroacupuncture over 3 weeks, plus paracetamol as needed. One group also received BFA; the other group received a sham (inactive) ear acupuncture. Neither the participants nor the outcome assessors knew which group each participant was in. Pain intensity, pain interference with daily activities, and side effects were measured. Adults aged 20 years or older with chronic low back pain due to lumbar spine osteoarthritis, who had not previously used ear acupuncture, and who agreed to participate.