Effects of Fu's Subcutaneous Needling on Postoperative Pain in Patients Receiving Surgery for Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Disorders: A Single-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Fu's subcutaneous needling (FSN) is a novel acupuncture technique for pain treatment. This study investigated the effects of postsurgical FSN on postoperative pain in patients receiving surgery for degenerative spinal disorders.

Methods: This single-center, single-blind, randomized-controlled study involved patients undergoing surgery for degenerative spinal disorders. Participants were randomized into either an FSN group or a control group that received sham FSN. The primary outcomes were scores on the Brief Pain Inventory Taiwan version (BPI-T) and Oswestry Disability Index before and at 1, 24, and 48 hours after surgery. Secondary outcomes were muscle hardness, pethidine use, and inflammatory biomarker presence.

Results: Initially, 51 patients met the inclusion criteria and were allocated (26 in the FSN group and 25 in the control group). Two patients were lost to follow-up, and finally, 49 patients (25 in the FSN group and 24 in the control group) who completed the study were analyzed. The FSN group had significantly lower pain intensity measured on the BPI-T compared with the control group at 1, 24, 48, and 72 hours after surgical treatment (all < 0.001). Additionally, pain interference as measured on the BPI-T was lower in the FSN group than in the control group 1 hour ( = 0.001), 24 hours ( = 0.018), 48 hours ( = 0.001), and 72 hours ( = 0.017) after surgical treatment. Finally, the FSN group exhibited less muscle hardness in the latissimus dorsi and gluteus maximus 24, 48, and 72 hours (all < 0.05) after surgery compared with the control group; patients in the FSN group also exhibited less muscle hardness in the L3 paraspinal muscle 48 hours ( = 0.001) and 72 hours ( < 0.001) after surgery compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in serum CRP, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, and TNF-α levels between the FSN and control groups at 24 hours, 72 hours, and 1-month post-surgery (all > 0.05).

Conclusion: FSN treatment can reduce postoperative pain in patients receiving surgery for degenerative spinal disorders. However, larger sample sizes and multicenter clinical trials are required to verify these findings.