The efficacy of electroacupuncture in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar compressionfractures in menopausal women:a study protocol for a prospective, two-arm, single-center randomized controlled trial.

Abstract Background Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture(OVCF) of menopausal women is more prone to result in functional pain, limitations, and significant disability due to lower estrogen levels. Acupuncture therapy is widely used to treat it as an alternative conservative therapy in China, but there is a relative lack of high-quality clinical evidence. This trial designed an electroacupuncture treatment method and aimed to investigate EA’s effectiveness in treating OVCF. Methods and analysis Using stratified sampling, 124 menopausal women who meet the inclusion criteria will be equally divided into the medication group(MD) and the electroacupuncture(EA) group. The duration of the intervention is eight weeks in each group and participants will be followed up until the twelfth week. The medication group will be treated with alendronate, calcitonin, calcium carbonate, and Vitamin D supplements for 8 weeks. In the EA group, BL23, BL25, BL40, BL60, GV20, KL3, GB34 andST36 will be electrically stimulated once a day for the first four weeks and once every two days for the last four weeks. Primary outcomes include the visual analogue scale (VAS) and bone mineral density (BMD) and secondary outcomes include propertied of type I procollagen(PINP), the Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI), and the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QUALEFFO-41), which will be evaluated at baseline, the 4th week, the 8th week and the 12th week selectively.Statistical analysis will be performed by SPSS, and the p-value< 0.05 is considered significantly different. Discussion This study will help determine the efficacy of electroacupuncture in the treatment of compression fractures and provide an optimized treatment option for menopausal women OVCF patients.