RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe therapeutic effects of different needle-retained durations at scalp acupoints on Tourette syndrome (TS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-two cases of TS were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 31 cases in each group. In the observation group, the needles were retained for 2 h and in the control group, they were retained for 30 min. The middle line of forehead, middle line of vertex and lateral line 1 of vertex were selected as main acupoints, and anterior oblique line of vertex-temporal and posterior temporal line were selected as adjuvant acupoints. They were treated for 2 months, once other day. Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) and Tourette Syndrome Global Scale (TSGS) were used for assessment of therapeutic effects and their therapeutic effects were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment, YGTSS and TSGS scores had very significant changes in the two groups as compared with those before treatment (both P < 0.01), indicating an obvious improvement in kinetic Tic and vocalizing Tic. The total effective rate was 61.3% in the observation group and 67.7% in the control group with no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Scalp acupuncture therapy of both 2 h and 0.5 h retaining needle can significantly improve symptoms of TS patients, with a similar therapeutic effect.</p>