Abstract

EVALUATION OF EFFICACY OF RAKTAMOKSHAN BY HIJAMA CUPPING IN PATIENTS WITH LUMBAR SPONDYLOSIS: A SINGLE-ARM LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Dr. Tanveer Shaikh*, Dr. K. Rajeshwar Reddy, Dr. Rahul Baviskar

Abstract

Background: Lumbar spondylosis is a common degenerative spinal condition that may be accompanied by low-back pain, paraspinal tenderness, and restricted lumbar movement. The prevalence of Lumbar Spondylosis is found to be between 38% to 85% in previous studies. Hijama Cupping had been studied as an effective, economical, reliable, convenient and safe method for Raktamokshan. This study analysed the efficacy of raktamokshan by hijama cupping in the management of lumbar spondylosis. Objective: To describe changes in pain, lumbar tenderness, Schober’s test measurement, and straight-leg-raise (SLR) angle over 90 days among participants who received Hijama cupping for lumbar spondylosis. Methods: This was a single-arm longitudinal analysis of 60 patients of Lumbar Spondylosis who underwent Raktamokshan with Hijama Cupping. Each participant underwent 4 sessions of cupping at an interval of 7 days. Measurements were recorded at the baseline and Days 1, 3, 7, 14, 30, and 90 after completion of the treatment. Within-participant change over time was assessed using the Friedman test; paired baseline-to-follow-up comparisons used Wilcoxon signedrank tests. Results: Mean recorded pain score decreased from 8.15 (SD 1.04) at baseline to 2.92 (SD 1.01) on Day 1, then rose gradually to 3.95 (SD 0.96) on Day 90. Mean lumbar tenderness score decreased from 3.00 (SD 0.00) to 0.53 (SD 0.50) on Day 1 and was 1.13 (SD 0.39) on Day 90. Mean Schober measurement increased from 3.33 (SD 0.48) at baseline to 6.23 (SD 0.53) on Day 1 and was 5.35 (SD 0.48) on Day 90. Mean SLR angle increased from 42.42° (SD 5.71) to 77.25° (SD 4.64) on Day 1 and was 66.44° (SD 5.65) on Day 90. Overall within-participant changes over time were statistically significant for all four measures (Friedman tests, all p

Keywords: Hijama; wet cupping; lumbar spondylosis; low-back pain; Schober test; straight-leg raise; longitudinal analysis.