The analgesic tolerance to electroacupuncture in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: an observational pilot study

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common reasons for requesting home healthcare services in Vietnam. Multiple studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) in treating chronic musculoskele-tal pain (CMP). This study aimed to provide preliminary insights into the development of analgesic tolerance to EA in pa-tients with CMP. This observational pilot study was conducted on 60 patients with CMP. All participants provided information re-garding their age, gender, origin, location of pain, duration of EA’s analgesic effect, changes in EA effectiveness over the course of treatment, concurrent therapies, and any adverse effects during randomly selected treatment sessions. Among the patients with CMP, 51.6% reported that that the pain-relieving effect of EA lasted more than one hour post-treatment. The duration f this effect varied, lasting from over 12 hours to over 72 hours (90%). The majority of partici-pants (81.7%) noted that the effectiveness of EA either improved or remained stable throughout the treatment sessions. However, 18.3% of patients experienced a reduction in the analgesic effect of EA with the progression of treatment ses-sions. The pain-relieving effect of EA typically unfolds gradually and persists for a notable duration. Consistent and repeated EA treatment in patients with CMP could potentially lead to the development of analgesic tolerance.