Female Patient Suffering from Chronic Osteoarthritis and Back Pain

Background: Acupuncture as a regulative therapy is well-suited for the treatment of functional, reversible disorders. Additionally, the WHO recommends its application for pain therapy in cases of arthritis and back pain due to various causes. This case study should clarify which paths to take in the case of a multi-morbid patient suffering from chronic pains due to polyarthrosis. Objective: Pain reduction and improvement of quality of life as well as improvement of sleep quality. Methods: Annual treatment series consisting of 10 sessions each, one session per week. Results: short-term pain reduction before undergoing endoprosthetic surgery; considerable improvement of general status and sleep. Conclusions: Acupuncture may bring temporal relief in cases of chronic pain due to osteoarthritis and should therefore be applied in combination with western medicine. Acupuncture is particularly well-suited to treat the coemergent vegetative symptoms.