RESUMO
Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture at points Yanglingquan(SP 9) and Houxi(SI 3) plus Medicine in treating lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.Methods Sixty patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 30 cases each. Both groups of patients took a bed rest, wore a waist belt and did moderate functional exercises. The control group received medication and the treatment group, acupuncture at points Yanglingquan(SP 9) and Houxi(SI 3) in addition. The VAS score and the ODI score were recorded before and after treatment. The therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 96.7% in the treatment group and 70.0% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the VAS score and the ODI score in the two groups (P<0.01). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the VAS score and the ODI score between the treatment and control groups (P<0.01,P<0.05).Conclusions Acupuncture at points Yanglingquan(SP 9) and Houxi(SI 3) plus Medicine is an effective way to treat lumbar intervertebral disc herniation. It can relieve pain and reduce dysfunction.