RESUMO
Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupoint application as summer treatment for winter diseases plus point Shenque application of herbal paste in treating pediatric asthma.Methods One hundred and one patients with bronchial asthma were randomized to a treatment group (48 cases) and a control group (53 cases).Both groups received acupoint application during dog days.The treatment group received point Shenque application of herbal paste in addition to the basic therapy.The clinical symptom and sign (pant and pulmonary wheeze) scores were recorded in the two groups before and after treatment.The clinical short-term and long-term therapeutic effects and disease severities were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 85.4％ after three months of treatment and 87.5％ after six months of treatment in the treatment group and 58.5％ and 62.3％ in the control group;there were statistically significant differences between the two groups (P＜0.01).There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the clinical symptom and sign (pant and pulmonary wheeze) scores in both groups (P＜ 0.01).There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the clinical symptom and sign scores between the treatment and control groups (P＜0.05).There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in disease severity between the treatment and control groups (P＜0.05).Conclusions Acupoint application as summer treatment for winter diseases plus point Shenque application of herbal paste is an effective way to treat pediatric asthma.It can markedly relieve the clinical symptoms and signs and reduce the severity of asthma attacks.