Liang Haiwen, Huang Jianhao
The Second Clinical Medical School of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Shenzhen Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Futian), Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Front Neurol. 2024 Jun 3;15:1381292. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1381292. eCollection 2024.
Most patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) derive benefit from conservative treatment, prompting growing global interest in non-surgical approaches. Despite being recognized as one of the effective conservative therapies, there is currently limited evidence to support the sole efficacy of acupuncture in treating patients with acute extruded LDH. Here we report the case of a 52-year-old male who presented with low back pain and persistent radiating lower limb pain and numbness. Physical examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an extruded LDH at the L5/S1 level, compressing the nerve root and causing severe radiculopathy symptoms. After 23 days of continuous inpatient acupuncture treatment, followed by 5 intermittent outpatient acupuncture treatment over 2 months, patient's pain and numbness was significantly alleviated and a followed-up MRI showed a remarkable regression of the extruded disc fragment. In this case, acupuncture as a monotherapy is safe and effective, but more conclusive evidence is needed.
大多数腰椎间盘突出症（LDH）患者可从保守治疗中获益，这促使全球对非手术方法的兴趣日益增加。尽管针灸被认为是有效的保守疗法之一，但目前支持针灸单独治疗急性脱出型LDH患者疗效的证据有限。在此，我们报告一例52岁男性患者，其表现为腰痛以及下肢持续放射性疼痛和麻木。体格检查和磁共振成像（MRI）显示L5/S1水平存在脱出型LDH，压迫神经根并导致严重的神经根病症状。经过23天的持续住院针灸治疗，随后在2个月内进行了5次间歇性门诊针灸治疗，患者的疼痛和麻木明显减轻，随访MRI显示脱出的椎间盘碎片明显回缩。在该病例中，针灸作为单一疗法是安全有效的，但仍需要更多确凿的证据。
