title: Anti-nociceptive effects of elcatonin injection for postmenopausal women with back pain: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Eel calcitonin (elcatonin) injection is widely used for elderly patients suffering from somatic pain in Japan. However, there have been few reports on the analgesic effects of elcatonin injection. The purpose of this study was to examine the analgesic effects of elcatonin injection in postmenopausal women with lower back pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was designed as a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Thirty-six women aged >/=50 years with acute lower back pain participated in this study. They were randomly divided into two treatment groups according to whether they received a placebo or a weekly trigger point injection of elcatonin (20 units). They were observed for 5 weeks and the extent of pain at motion and at rest according to the visual analog scale (VAS) was evaluated. The mean VAS scores for the elcatonin group were then compared with those of the placebo group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no statistically significant differences in the mean VAS scores for pain at rest between the two groups during the 5-week treatment course. However, the mean VAS scores for motion pain in the elcatonin group were significantly lower than those in the placebo group at the third, fifth and sixth weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elcatonin injection (20 units) significantly relieved motion pain in the lower back in postmenopausal women after three weeks of treatment. This analgesic effect continued for the subsequent 3 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan.
authors.forename: Shota
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamimura
authors.forename: Shigeharu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uchiyama
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashidate
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahara
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
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