Clinical Study on Acupuncture Treating Thalamic Pain / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of acupuncture in managing thalamic pain syndrome. Methods: Eighty patients with thalamic pain syndrome were randomly allocated into two groups, with 40 cases in the treatment group receiving combined scalp and body acupuncture treatment and 40 cases in the control group receiving single body acupuncture treatment. The intervention was given for 28 d in total, and the effects were evaluated after 14-day and 28-day treatments. Results: The inner-group comparison of McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) showed significant differences after the treatment d 14 in both of the two groups (P<0.05), and after the treatment d 28, the differences were even more significant (P<0.01). After 28-day treatment, compared with pre-treatment, the Transcranial Doppler (TCD) test detected significant changes in the two groups (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 72.5% in the treatment group versus 47.5% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The 3-month follow-up study found the relapse rate was 0 in the treatment group and 15.8% in the control group, and the difference was significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture is effective in treating thalamic pain syndrome and combined scalp and body acupuncture can achieve even better results.