ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy of wrist three-needle acupuncture in treating pre-adhesive stage scapulohumeral periarthritis. Method Seventy-eight patients with pre-adhesive stage scapulohumeral periarthritis were randomly allocated to two groups. The treatment group of 39 patients received wrist three-needle acupuncture and the control group of 39 patients, conventional acupuncture. Result After one course of treatment, the cure rate and the total efficacy rate were significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group and there was a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant pre-/post-treatment difference in the VAS score in the treatment group (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the pre-/post-treatment difference value between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). Post-treatment pain relief rate was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Wrist three-needle acupuncture is even more effective than conventional acupuncture in treating pre-adhesive stage scapulohumeral periarthritis.