Open AccessExploring the Effectiveness of Acupuncture as an Adjunct to Physiotherapy in the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Systematic Review
Author(s) -
Ana Anjos,
Soraya Maart,
Nuno Goncalves,
Pedro Borrego,
Lieselotte Corten
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
emirates medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0250-6882
DOI - 10.2174/0250688202999210225143604
Subject(s) - acupuncture , medicine , physical therapy , randomized controlled trial , adjunct , isometric exercise , range of motion , cochrane library , physical medicine and rehabilitation , manual therapy , osteoarthritis , inclusion and exclusion criteria , alternative medicine , linguistics , philosophy , pathology
Background: Acupuncture is one of the most popular forms of complementary and alternative medicine, and itsusage is linked to an improvement of physical and psychological symptoms. Main Objectives: Determine whether the useof acupuncture as an adjunct to physiotherapy treatment is more effective than physiotherapy alone or acupuncture alone inMSK conditions. Methodology: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using three major databases, from March 2019 to May2019, i.e., Cochrane Library, PubMed, and PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database). The inclusion criteria were limited torandomized controlled trials (RCT) published in English, only studies published within the past decade, and investigatingadult populations with MSK conditions. Results: From the 227 titles and abstracts that were identified, 75 were duplicates, leaving us with 152 studies for the initialscreening. Eight studies [13-20] were included in this review for a qualitative analysis. The studies that assessed pain did notfound statistically significant results that support the combination of physiotherapy and acupuncture, the same results werealso obtained for Range of motion in knee osteoarthritis. Muscular tension was found statistically significant within-groupimprovements for all parameters in comparison with the baseline. For Isometric Neck Muscle Strength (INMS), the studiesreported significant improvements within the groups, with Physiotherapy combined with Acupuncture being more effectivethan Acupuncture or Physiotherapy alone. The Constant Shoulder Assessment (CSA), for shoulder function wassignificantly higher in the exercise plus acupuncture group compared with the exercise group. Conclusion: As an integrative or complementary therapy for pain, acupuncture has been increasingly used. However, thisreview did not find significant evidence to support that the addition of acupuncture to physiotherapy treatment has an addedbenefit to pain relief. This review did, however, find benefits of adding acupuncture to treatment to reducing neck disabilityand improving muscular strength and shoulder function.