An interventional study of Pharmacopuncture and Physical Therapy in Lumbar Radiculopathy and Chronic Pain, sponsored by Jaseng Medical Foundation. Recruiting at 4 sites in South Korea. Open to participants aged 19 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-21.
Sponsored by Jaseng Medical Foundation · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
A pragmatic clinical study to compare the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture and physical therapy strategies in patients with chronic lumbar radiculopathy
This multicenter, pragmatic, randomized, comparative clinical trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of pharmacopuncture in patients with chronic lumbar radiculopathy. A total of 92 participants with chronic lumbar radiculopathy will be recruited from four traditional Korean medicine hospitals: Recruitment will follow a competitive enrollment scheme. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment strategy groups: a pharmacopuncture group (n = 46) and a physical therapy group (n = 46). As a pragmatic trial, the specific methods of pharmacopuncture and physical therapy will not be predetermined. Instead, treatment methods will be determined by the clinical judgment of the Korean medicine doctor according to each patient's individual condition. All administered treatments will be recorded in the patients' medical records and the Case Report Form (CRF) for later comparison.
The primary objective of this study is to assess the comparative effectiveness of pharmacopuncture against physical therapy in managing chronic lumbar radiculopathy symptoms in a real-world clinical setting.
483 studies on the registry are indexed under Radiculopathy; 145 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 92 is above the median of 60 across 373 interventional studies indexed under Radiculopathy.
Browse Radiculopathy studies →Jaseng Medical Foundation is the lead sponsor of 69 studies on the registry; 11 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
1. Inclusion Criteria:
2. Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
1. Acupoints: The selection of acupoints, needling depth, and other procedural details will be determined based on the clinical judgment of the Korean medicine doctor, taking into account the patient's symptoms, diagnostic imaging findings, and progress. All selected acupoints used for the treatment of chronic lumbar radiculopathy will be documented, and only those listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) will be used. 2. Pharmacopuncture Solution: The type of pharmacopuncture solution and the dosage administered will be selected at the discretion of the practitioner performing the pharmacopuncture, based on their clinical judgment. The type and total volume (in milliliters) of the pharmacopuncture solution used will be recorded for retrospective chart review. The dosage will range from 0.1 cc to 10.0 cc, depending on the clinician's decision. The selection of pharmacopuncture solutions will be limited to those already in clinical use at each participating institution.
Procedure: Pharmacopuncture
As this is a pragmatic clinical trial, the choice of physical therapy modality, treatment area, and treatment duration will be determined based on the clinical judgment of the physician, taking into account the patient's symptoms, imaging findings, and clinical progress. All types, frequencies, and sites of physical therapy prescribed and administered will be recorded. To improve symptoms and conditions related to lumbar radiculopathy, any mechanical physical therapy modality currently used in actual clinical practice will be permitted. Examples include Interference Current Therapy (ICT) and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS).
Procedure: Physical Therapy
The physicians will decide the specific methods of pharmacopuncture based on the clinical judgment according to each participant's conditions. All applied treatment methods are documented in the case report forms.
The physicians will decide the specific methods of physical therapy based on the clinical judgment according to each participant's conditions. All applied treatment methods are documented in the case report forms.
Leg pain Numeric Rating Scale, NRS
Change from baseline to Week 7 on the Numeric Rating Scale of Leg pain
Time frame: Week 7
Leg and low back pain Numeric Rating Scale
The pain intensity of leg and low back over the past week
Time frame: Week 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,13
Leg and low back pain Visual Analogue Scale
The pain intensity of leg and low back over the past week
Time frame: Week 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Oswestry Disability Index
The degree of low back disability in daily life
Time frame: Week 1,7,13
Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire
assesse the functional status of patients with low back pain
Time frame: Week 1,7,13
Patient Global Impression of Change
The subject's subjective improvement
Time frame: Week 7,13
Health-related Quality of Life Instrument with 8 Items
A tool developed to measure the health-related quality of life in Koreans
Time frame: Week 1,7,13
5-Level EuroQol-5 Dimension
A tool that evaluates health status from multiple perspectives, including mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression
Time frame: Week 1,7,13
Adverse events
An undesirable and unintended sign, symptom, or disease that occurs after a procedure during the clinical study.
Time frame: Week 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,13
Not enrolling at this site.
Not enrolling at this site.
Not enrolling at this site.
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Aug 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2026, 16 months after the start.
Of 203 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Radiculopathy, half reached primary completion within 11 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 30. This study's planned 16 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 215 studies reached it within 12 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 45.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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Jaseng Medical Foundation