Comparative study on effect of acupuncture and lidocaine block for lumbar myofascial pain syndrome / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture at Jiaji (EX-B 2) points mainly for lumbar myofascial pain syndrome (MPS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-six cases of MPS were randomized into an acupuncture group and a lidocaine group, 33 cases in each group. The acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture at Jiaji (EX-B 2) points combined with needling local myofascial trigger points (MTrP), and the lidocaine group was treated with local block at trigger points with lidocaine injection. The treatment was given once every 2 days. After three and five times of the treatment, the simplified McGill scale, Oswestry disability index (ODI) and pressure-pain threshold were assessed to compare the therapeutic effects between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment, the scores of simplified McGill and ODI of two groups were obviously reduced while the score of pressure-pain threshold was obviously increased (all P < 0.01). After three and five times of the treatment, there were no significant differences in above scores between the two groups (all P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture at Jiaji (EX-B 2) points combined with needling MTrP is an effective and safe therapy for lumbar MPS, the therapeutic effect is equal to lidocaine block.</p>

Effect of "Jin three-needle therapy" on cognitive function and activity of daily living in patients of hemiplegia after stroke: a multi-central randomized controlled study / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide reliable evidence of "J in three-needle therapy" for treatment of stroke.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Multi-central randomized controlled trials were adopted, 180 hemiplegia patients of ischemic stroke were randomly divided into a fin three-needle group (90 cases) and a routine acupuncture group (90 cases). Two groups were both treated with basic neurology therapies, and J in three-needle group was treated with J in three-needle therapy, three acupoints of tempora, hand and foot etc. were selected; the routine acupuncture group was treated with traditional acupuncture, Quchi (LI 11), Huantiao (GB 30), Futu (ST 32) etc. were selected. Both groups were treated with acupuncture for 5 weeks. The cognitive function score of functional comprehensive assessment scale (FCA), the scores of mini-mental state examination scale (MMSE) and modified Barthel index (BI) were compared before and after treatment between two groups. Results After treatment, the scores of FCA, MMSE and BI in both groups were significantly improved compared to those before treatment (P < 0.01, P < 0.05); the improvement of FCA score, MMSE score and BI score in the J in three-needle group were superior to those of the routine acupuncture group after treatment (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The total effective rate of 85.4% in the J in three-needle group was superior to tohat of 70.0% in the routine acupuncture group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>J in three-needle acupuncture treatment can obviously improve the cognitive function and activity ability of daily life of hemiplegia patients after stroke, and the therapeutic effect of J in three-needle therapy is superior to that of traditional acupuncture treatment.</p>