OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic shoulder pain (CSP) using a randomised patient-blinded, multi-centre controlled trial.METHODS: The trials comprised of a six-week treatment period and three-month follow-up period. A total of 424 outpatients with CSP over six weeks and an average pain score of over 50 mm on the visual analogue scale (VAS) were randomly assigned to receive Chinese acupuncture (verum) (n = 135), sham acupuncture (sham) (n = 154) or conventional conservative orthopaedic treatment (COT) (n = 135).
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