Effect of Korean Medicine Combined with Electric Moxibustion in Patients with Traffic Accident-Induced Lumbago

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate electric moxibustion on patients with back paincaused by road traffic accidents. Methods This was a retrospective study (n = 112) comparing treatment with Korean medicine combined with electric moxibustion (n = 56), and Korean medicine alone (n = 56). Patient gender, age, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) was recorded for each group at the time of hospital admission. Mean NRS measured weekly, mean ODI and EQ-5D scores were measured 2 weeks post-treatment, and evaluated by paired sample t test. using the Statistical Program for Social Science v. 25.0 for Windows. An independent, two-sample t test was used to test for a significant difference in the decrement of NRS, ODI and increment EQ-5D scores between groups. Results NRS scores decreased in both groups after 1 week of treatment (electric moxibustion, from 5.13 ± 0.79 to 3.86 ± 0.67; Korean medicine alone, from 5.18 ± 0.92 to 4.30 ± 0.94; both p < 0.001). There was a significantly greater reduction in NRS score in the electric moxibustion group (1.27 ± 0.59) than in the Korean medicine alone group (0.88 ± 0.61; p = 0.001). After 2 weeks of treatment, EQ-5D scores increased significantly in the moxibustion group (0.19 ± 0.12) compared with the Korean medicine alone group (0.13 ± 0.20; p = 0.043). After 2 weeks of treatment, NRS and ODI scores decreased in both groups. EQ-5D increased in both groups. Conclusions We suggest that electric moxibustion treatment may be effective for reducing early-stage back pain in patients with road traffic accident injuries.