Efficacy and safety of thermobalancing therapy with Dr Allen’s Device for chronic low back pain:A randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND Lumbar disc herniation and non-specific low back pain are common conditions that seriously affect patients’health-related quality of life(HRQoL).Although empirical evidence has demonstrated that novel Thermobalancing therapy and Dr Allen’s Device can relieve chronic low back pain,there have been no randomised controlled trials for these indications.AIM To evaluate the efficacy of Dr Allen’s Device in lumbar disc herniation(LDH)and non-specific low back pain(NSLBP).METHODS A randomised clinical trial was conducted investigating 55 patients with chronic low back pain due to LDH(n=28)or NSLBP(n=27),out of which 15 were randomly assigned to the control group and 40 were assigned to the treatment group.The intervention was treatment with Dr Allen’s Device for 3 mo.Changes in HRQoL were assessed using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale and the Japanese Orthopedic Association Back Pain Questionnaire.RESULTS Thermobalancing therapy with Dr Allen’s Device showed a significant reduction in pain in the treatment group(P<0.001),with no recorded adverse effects.Both pain assessment scales showed a significant improvement in patients’perception of pain indicating improvement in HRQoL.CONCLUSION The out-of-hospital use of Thermobalancing therapy with Dr Allen’s Device for Low Back Treatment relieves chronic low back pain significantly and without adverse effects,improves the level of activity and HRQoL among patients with LDH and NSLBP.This study demonstrates the importance of this safe first-line therapy that can be used for effective at-home management of chronic low back pain.

Major Clinical Features and Epidemic Characteristics of Erosive Vulvar Lichen Planus:A Retrospective Analysis

Objective:Vulvar lichen planus(VLP),especially erosive VLP(EVLP),seriously affects women’s physiological function and quality of life.A retrospective analysis of erosive vulvar lichen planus(EVLP)was performed to raise awareness on this chronic,deforming,and painful vulvar disease.Methods:This observational retrospective study involved 40 patients with EVLP among 1,368 patients with vulvar disease from 2017 to 2020.The patients’vulvar clinical features and extravulvar mucosal involvement were investigated.The patients’pain and quality of life were evaluated with the numeric rating scale and the Dermatology Life Quality Index(DLQI),respectively.Clinical characteristics were reported using frequencies and proportions for categorical variables.Continuous variables are expressed as mean±standard deviation.The association between NRS score for pain and DLQI score was analyzed by Pearson’s correlation test.Results:EVLP accounted for 2.9%(40/1,368)of all cases of vulvar disease,and the median age at onset was 42 years.Erosion mostly occurred on the labia minora and introitus.Half(20/40)of the patients had extravulvar mucosal involvement.Seventeen(42.5%)patients had oral lichen planus,and seven(17.5%)patients were diagnosed with vulvovaginal-gingival syndrome.The numeric rating scale score showed that 47.5%(19/40)of patients experienced mild pain,whereas 12.5%(5/40)described the pain as severe.Thirty-one patients(77.5%,31/40)had dyspareunia,and nine patients had aggravated pain after sexual intercourse.The mean DLQI score was 9.1±6.0,with 37.5%(15/40)of patients indicating that EVLP had severely affected their lives.The numeric rating scale score for pain was significantly correlated with the DLQI score(P=0.007).Conclusion:EVLP can affect the quality of women’s lives and cause severe deformations and painful architectural changes.The description of the characteristics of EVLP in this report will benefit the diagnosis and early treatment of this disease.

埃德蒙顿症状评估量表在针灸治疗癌痛患者中的应用:基于肿瘤科住院患者的回顾性分析和一项前瞻性预试验

Background:As pain is the most prominent clinical symptom for cancer patients and closely related to other symptoms,it is necessary to have a comprehensive assessment on promising intervention to improve pain management.Methods:A retrospective study of 489 inpatient cancer patients(1081 visits)was conducted by querying the electronic medical record database to test the reliability and validity of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System.Data from a pilot prospective randomized controlled study on acupuncture for cancer pain was analyzed to validate the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System(ESAS)as the primary outcome in the integrative oncology research.Results:In the retrospective analysis,scores of the numerical rating scale(NRS)and the ESAS total score were significantly correlated(r=0.15,P=0.02),and the correlation coefficient between NRS and pain sub-scale in ESAS was 0.47(P<0.001).The pilot study showed the proportions of participants experiencing more than a 2-point reduction in NRS at the end of the treatment were 80%(n=12/15)in the acupuncture group and 50%(n=7/14)in the control group,without a significant difference between groups(P=0.13).For the total scores of ESAS,more responders were found in the acupuncture group(n=13/15)compared to that in the control group(n=7/14),with no significant difference between groups(P=0.05).Conclusions:ESAS is suitable for the comprehensive assessment in patients with cancer pain and could be an appropriate outcome measurement in acupuncture research for cancer pain.Trial registration:Registered on 09/07/2018 with ChiCTR1800017023(https://www.chictr/org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=28879&htm=4)