ABSTRACT
Objective: To observe the efficacy of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion for lumbar disc herniation (LDH) due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis and observe the influence of this method on lumbar functions and inflammatory factors in patients with this condition. Methods: A total of 120 LDH patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into three groups, including a herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, a flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group, and a Western medication group, with 40 patients in each group. The patients in the Western medication group were treated with diflunisal tablets, 0.5 g per dose, 2 doses a day. Those in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group were treated with additional herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group at Back-Shu Points and Jiaji (EX-B2) Points once a day. Those in the flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group were treated with the same methods as in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, except that the herbal cake was replaced by a flour cake. All the patients were treated for 10 d. After treatment, the scores of the visual analog scale (VAS) and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) and the changes of the interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and substance P (SP) levels were observed, and the efficacy was evaluated. Results: After treatment, the VAS score and the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and SP were lower than those before treatment, and the JOA score was higher than that before treatment in the three groups, indicating intra-group statistical significance (P<0.05). The VAS score and the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and SP of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group were lower than those of the flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group and the Western medication group, while the JOA score of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group was higher than that of the other two groups, indicating inter-group statistical significance (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group was 92.5％, higher than that of the flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group (80.0％) and the Western medication group (72.5％), indicating inter-group statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion: On the basis of Western oral medication, additional herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion can alleviate the pain and improve the lumbar functions in patients with LDH due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis. The efficacy of the integrated method is better than that of either flour cake-partitioned moxibustion or Western medication alone, which may be related to the reduction of serum inflammatory factors.