Clinical Efficacy and Effects of Tongmai Powder External Application on Serum Inflammatory Cytokines Levels in Patients with Chemotherapeutic Phlebitis / 中国中医药信息杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and effects of Tongmai Powder external application on serum inflammatory cytokines levels in patients with chemotherapeutic phlebitis. Methods Totally 60 patients with chemotherapeutic phlebitis were randomly divided into observation group and control group by order of inclusion, with 30 cases in each group. The observation group was treated with Tongmai Powder. The Tongmai Powder was evenly applied to the gauze. The thickness was 0.5–1 cm. The area was slightly larger than the lesion. The gauze was applied externally to the lesion and fixed with tape. The control group was given magnesium sulfate, twice a day for not less than 2 hours. 3 d was one treatment course for both groups, for successive three courses. Clinical efficacy and VAS of both groups were observed. The levels of TNF-α, IL-4, IL-8 and IL-10 before and after treatment in the two groups were compared. Results The total effective rate was 96.67％ (29/30) in the observation group and 83.33％ (25/30) in the control group. The observation group was significantly better than the control group (P=0.007). Compared with before treatment, the VAS of the two groups were significantly lower. The serum levels of TNF-α and IL-8 in the observation group decreased significantly, and the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 increased significantly (P＜0.05). After treatment, the VAS was lower in the observation group than in the control group (P＜0.05), the levels of TNF-α and IL-8 were lower in the observation group (P＜0.05) and the IL-4 and IL-10 levels were higher than the control group (P＜0.05). Conclusion Tongmai Powder external application can effectively treat chemotherapeutic phlebitis, which mechanism may be related to regulating the balance of inflammatory cytokines.