RESUMO
Objective To make a tinnitus matching-based observation of the clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture on tinnitus of kidney essence deficiency type.Methods Sixty patients with tinnitus of kidney essence deficiency type were randomized to groups A and B, 30 cases each. Group A received acupuncture based on syndrome differentiation- based point selection and group B, acupuncture based on disease differentiation-based point selection. Hearing condition was assessed by pure tone hearing threshold and tinnitus matching (tinnitus frequency and loudness matching test) in the two groups of patients before and after treatment.Results There were statistically significant pre-/post- treatment differences in various thresholds in pure tone audiometry in the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in partial thresholds in pure tone audiometry (500 Hz, 750 Hz, 1000 Hz and 2000 Hz) between Group A and group B (P<0.05). Tinnitus matching had no statistically significant pre-/post-treatment difference within the two groups and no statistically significant post-treatment difference between the two groups (P>0.05). There was a statistically significant pre-/post-treatment difference in tinnitus loudness matching in the two groups (P<0.01). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in tinnitus loudness matching between Group A and group B (P<0.05).Conclusions Acupuncture is an effective way to treat tinnitus of kidney essence deficiency type. The therapeutic effect of syndrome differentiation-based acupoint selection is better than that of disease differentiation-based acupoint selection.