Technique of local drug stimulation for dorsopathy

Objective. To study the effectiveness of combined application of zonal drug blockade and pharmacopuncture (drug stimulation of reflexology points) in treatment programs for dorsopathy at the lumbosacral level.

Materials and methods. The study included 90 patients of both sexes under the age of 65 years who were treated for exacerbation of lumbosacral dorsopathy. The dynamics of clinical characteristics were compared with shifts in the results of psychological testing and electrophysiological analysis – zonal thermography, tetrapolar rheovasography and laser Doppler flowmetry. Patients were divided into three randomized groups in which basic (standard) medical-orthopedic treatment was performed. In addition to this, the first two groups used local stimulation, choosing up to 20 loci in the lumbosacral zone and 6–8 distal reflexology points in the lower extremities. Methodically, the anesthetic Lidocaine was injected into the points of the lower back and sacrum, and the drug alflutop (1st group, true pharmacopuncture) or physiological solution (2nd group, to a certain degree of placebo) was injected into the points of reflexology. The course of exposure consisted of 10 procedures performed every other day. In the 3rd group (control) they were limited to basic therapy.

Results. Both variants of local stimulation were significantly superior in effectiveness to standard treatment. However, with the comparability of the rate of reduction of algia in these effective groups, the final level of pain was significantly lower in the 1st group. These data were consistent with a clear tendency to normalize the mental status and characteristics of regional vascular response in these patients.

Conclusion. The advantage of the complex, which includes true pharmacopuncture, is explained by the direction of action and the points of application of medications: rapid anesthesia due to blockade with the anesthetic Lidocaine and the maximum effectiveness provided by pharmacopuncture with the drug alflutop.