| Objective: To observe the clinical effectiveness of electroacupuncture combined with polarized light for lumbar disc lesions and analyze its effect on serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in patients with lumbar disc lesions. Method: Ninety-three cases of lumbar disc lesions were randomly divided into three groups: the electroacupuncture combined with polarized light group (n=31) (treatment group), the electroacupuncture group (n=30) (control group 1), and polarized light group (n=32) (control group 2). The treatment group was given electroacupuncture on Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Huantiao (GB 30), Weizhong (BL 40), Chengshan (BL 57), and Kunlun (BL 60) and polarized light, once a day for 15 days. The control groups were treated as the treatment group with the electroacupuncture and polarized light respectively. After treatment the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the MMP-3 contents in serum were observed. Result: After treatment for 15 days, the VAS values and serum MMP-3 levels were significantly decreased in the three groups as compared with those before treatment (P<0.05). The VAS values and serum MMP-3 levels in treatment group were obviously decreased as compared with the control groups (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between the two control groups. Conclusion: Electroacupuncture combined with polarized light has a good effectivness on lumbar disc lesions pain probably by decreasing the serum MMP-3 levels in the local site. |
