The Effectiveness of Pharmacopuncture in Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Protocol for a Multi-Centered, Pragmatic, Randomized, Controlled, Parallel Group Study

PURPOSE: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a chronic degenerative disease. Non-surgical intervention is recommended, considering the risks and benefits for the affected age group, as well as the characteristics of the disease. However, to date, no studies have compared various non-surgical interventions to ascertain the appropriate first-line non-surgical treatment for LSS. Therefore, the objective of this study will be to assess the efficacy of pharmacopuncture as a non-surgical, conservative treatment for LSS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A multi-centered, pragmatic, parallel-group study will be conducted. In total, 98 patients will be recruited at seven institutes; recruitment began in May 2022. After two treatment sessions per week over a period of 12 weeks, follow-up assessments will be held at weeks 13, 25, and 53. RESULTS: The efficacy of pharmacopuncture and conservative care will be pragmatically compared in patients radiologically diagnosed with LSS. Pain severity will be measured using the numeric rating scale and visual analog scale. Walking distance will also be evaluated. Patient-centered evaluations will include the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire, Short-Form 12 for Health-Related Quality of Life, EuroQoL 5 Dimension 5 Levels, and Patient Global Impression of Change. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will confirm the efficacy of pharmacopuncture in comparison to conventional non-surgical treatment and will thus facilitate the prioritization of patient-centered interventions for LSS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (registration identifier: NCT05242497) and CRiS (registration identifier: KCT0007145).