Comparative study on treatment of acute gouty arthritis by electroacupuncture with different frequency / 中国结合医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the therapeutic effect of treatment of acute gouty arthritis (AGA) respectively by electroacupuncture (EA) with different frequency and oral intake of Western medicine.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two patients of AGA were randomly assigned into three groups, 24 in each group. Group A was treated with EA 100 Hz; Group B with EA 2 Hz; and Group C with Western medicine. The analgesic effect, initiating time and sustaining time of analgesia were observed and the level of serum uric acid was measured before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The initiating time of analgesia was shorter while the sustaining time of analgesia was longer in Group A and B than those in Group C (all P < 0.01). The efficacy of analgesia was higher in Group B than that in Group A, and a better effect was shown in Group B in reducing serum uric acid level than that in Group A (P < 0.01), which was near that in Group C (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>EA is an effective treatment for AGA, and low frequency (2 Hz) EA showed a better efficacy.</p>