Non-surgical Korean Medicine Integrated Treatment for Herniated Disc Shows Stable Pain Relief and Functional Improvement Even After 10 Years

Research Team Led by Lee Jin-ho, Director of Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital, Conducts Longitudinal Study
Pain and Functional Disability Indices Improved and Maintained for 10 Years
Quality of Life Assessment More Than Doubled After Treatment
95% of Patients 'Satisfied' with Korean Medicine Integrated Treatment

Director Lee Jin-ho of Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine is performing Chuna therapy on a patient with a herniated disc.
[Photo by Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwanju] A study tracking patients with herniated discs who received non-surgical Korean medicine integrative treatment for 10 years found that the degree of pain and functional improvement remained stable.

The Spine and Joint Research Institute at Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine announced on the 7th that they confirmed this by tracking and observing patients with herniated discs who received Korean medicine integrative treatment at Jaseng Hospital for 10 years.

The research team led by Director Lee Jin-ho of Jaseng Hospital studied 65 patients who visited Jaseng Hospital for herniated discs from November 2006 to April 2007 and received integrative Korean medicine treatment?including Chuna manual therapy, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, and herbal medicine prescriptions?for six months, successfully following them for 10 years.

In February to March 2018, the research team analyzed the treatment effects at the 10-year mark. The evaluation indicators included ▲Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for low back pain and radiating leg pain ▲Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) ▲SF-36 Health Survey for quality of life ▲MRI measurement of disc herniation volume. Both VAS (0?10 cm) and ODI (0?100 points) indicate more severe pain and disability with higher scores. The SF-36 (0?100 points) is a quality of life measurement tool consisting of 36 items covering physical and mental domains, with higher scores indicating improved quality of life.

The team compared and analyzed these results with previous studies measuring effects at 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years after integrative Korean medicine treatment to verify the persistence of treatment effects. The results showed that the treatment effects were maintained over 10 years. Specifically, the VAS for radiating leg pain dropped from a severe pain level of 7.42 before treatment to the 1-point range after 6 months and remained stable at 0.88 after 10 years. For low back pain VAS, the moderate pain level of 4.39 before treatment decreased to 1.15, indicating almost no pain.

Regarding the ODI, which was at a somewhat severe functional disability level of 41.36 points before treatment, it improved to 11.84 points?indicating no inconvenience in daily life?after 6 months. The ODI at 10 years, examined in this study, was 11.26 points, maintaining a good condition. Additionally, the SF-36 score increased from 35.62 points before treatment to 74.09 points after 10 years, more than doubling and confirming positive changes.

This study is significant in that it objectively examined changes in disc herniation volume and muscle mass over 10 years through MRI examinations, in addition to subjective symptom measurements by patients. It was confirmed that disc herniation volume gradually decreased over 10 years compared to before treatment, and lumbar muscle mass increased.

Due to the stable improvement over 10 years, patient satisfaction with integrative Korean medicine treatment was very high. When the research team surveyed treatment satisfaction at the 10-year point, 62 patients (95.8%) responded with ‘satisfied’ or higher. Notably, all patients answered ‘no regrets’ when asked about any regrets regarding the integrative Korean medicine treatment.

Director Lee Jin-ho said, “This study is meaningful as it is the first to comprehensively and long-term track and prove the effects of integrative Korean medicine treatment for herniated discs,” adding, “Non-surgical integrative Korean medicine treatment, which fundamentally treats spinal disorders, can continue to be presented as an effective alternative among disc treatment methods.”

This research paper was published in the January issue of the SCI(E)-level international journal ‘Integrative Medicine Research (IF=2.368).’

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