Department of Health Technologies, School of Health Sciences (ESSLei - IPL), Instituto Politecnico de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal.
Instituto de Ciencias Biomedicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS - UP), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Acupunct Med. 2018 Jun;36(3):132-138. doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2016-011357. Epub 2018 May 2.
Acupuncture appears to reduce the mechanosensitivity of peripheral nerves in animal models; yet, this possibility has not been demonstrated in humans.
The main objective of this exploratory trial was to evaluate the immediate effects of acupuncture on the mechanosensitivity of the median nerve, measured by the elbow extension range-of-motion (EE-ROM) at pain onset and maximum tolerance during the upper limb neurodynamic test 1 (ULNT1). Additional objectives were to test the effects of two different points in ULNT1 responses and critically appraise pre-/post-intervention changes for conducting future research.
Thirty-one asymptomatic individuals, randomly assigned to the PC group (n=14) or the LU group (n=17) by the coin flip procedure, underwent acupuncture (leopard spot needling) at PC5 or LU5'', respectively. Two-way mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) with time (pre-intervention vs post-intervention) as the within-subject factor and group (PC vs LU) as the between-subject factor, plus time×group interaction, were used to determine the effects of acupuncture therapy on EE-ROM at pain onset and maximum tolerance during ULNT1.
At baseline there were no differences between groups (p>0.05). After acupuncture, mean EE-ROM increased 3.1° at pain onset (p=0.029, 0.154) and 5.6° at maximum tolerance (p=0.002, 0.277) with no differences between groups (p>0.05, 0.01).
Immediately after acupuncture, the mechanosensitivity of the median nerve appears to be reduced as observed by an increase in EE-ROM during the ULNT1. Further studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.
NCT02150915; Post-results.
在动物模型中，针刺似乎降低了外周神经的机械敏感性；然而，这种可能性尚未在人类中得到证实。
本探索性试验的主要目的是评估针刺对正中神经机械敏感性的即时影响，通过在上肢神经动力学试验 1（ULNT1）中测量疼痛发作时和最大耐受时的肘部伸展活动范围（EE-ROM）来评估。次要目的是测试 ULNT1 反应中两个不同点的影响，并批判性地评价干预前后的变化，为未来的研究提供参考。
31 名无症状个体通过抛硬币程序随机分配到 PC 组（n=14）或 LU 组（n=17），分别在 PC5 或 LU5''处接受针刺（豹纹点刺）。采用双因素混合模型方差分析（ANOVA），以时间（干预前 vs 干预后）为内因素，以组（PC 与 LU）为外因素，加上时间×组交互作用，来确定针刺疗法对 ULNT1 中疼痛发作时和最大耐受时 EE-ROM 的影响。
基线时两组间无差异（p＞0.05）。针刺后，疼痛发作时的平均 EE-ROM 增加了 3.1°（p=0.029，0.154），最大耐受时增加了 5.6°（p=0.002，0.277），但两组间无差异（p＞0.05，0.01）。
针刺后即刻，正中神经的机械敏感性似乎降低，这可以通过 ULNT1 期间 EE-ROM 的增加来观察到。需要进一步的研究来证实这些初步发现。
NCT02150915；Post-results。
