Effect of adding acupuncture to postoperative rehabilitation treatment for muscle injury pain in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: Controlled clinical trial

Introduction

Muscle injuries are prevalent in sports practice among high performance athletes and amateurs. Considering the wide clinical variety of this morbidity (extension and different presentations), there is an interest in studying the effect of acupuncture on the treatment of pain related to muscle injury in an identical model. Microsystem acupuncture is a practical, economical, fast-acting therapeutic resource with few side effects.

Method

This study is a clinical trial in which 22 patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) surgery were divided into two groups. In group 1, the participants received established rehabilitation treatment. Participants in group 2 received acupuncture treatment using nasal microsystem and cranial suture microsystem techniques, in addition to the rehabilitation program, to relieve muscle pain in the graft harvesting region. Participants were assessed for pain outcome by the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS) from the first to the sixth postoperative week.

Results

Both groups showed a statistically significant reduction in pain as treatment progressed; however, a better outcome was evident in the acupuncture-treated group compared with the control group from the second to the fourth week (p < 0.001). There was also a significant reduction in pain score before and immediately after the acupuncture session on the fifth postoperative day (p< 0.001).

Conclusion

The results of the present study suggest that the addition of acupuncture treatment with nasal microsystem and cranial suture microsystem techniques to the established rehabilitation treatment has brought benefits in reducing thigh muscle pain in the early postoperative period.