Clinical Efficacy of Modified Guizhi Jia Gegen Tang on Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis Syndrome of Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy and Function of Neck and Upper Limb / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

<b>Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of modified Guizhi Jia Gegen Tang on cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR) with Qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome and its effect on cervical vertebral mobility, isometric muscle strength and pain-related factors. <b>Method:Totally 162 CSR patients with Qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome were randomly divided into observation group (81 cases) and control group (81 cases). The observation group was given modified Guizhi Jia Gegen Tang orally, 150 mL/time, twice a day, while the control group was given Jingshu granule orally for 6 g/time, twice a day. Both groups were treated for 8 weeks. The changes of median nerve F wave conduction velocity, cervical vertebral mobility, isometric muscle strength, CSR 20 subscale score and visual analogue score (VAS) were recorded before and after treatment. The total effective rate and the cure rate were counted after treatment. The levels of serum pain-related factors (5-HT), nerve growth factor (NGF) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) were measured before and after treatment. <b>Result:The total effective rate of the observation group was 98.77%, and the cure rate was 40.74%, which were better than 83.95%and 7.41%of the control group (<italic>P</italic><0.01). Compared with before treatment, the conduction velocity of median nerve F wave, cervical vertebral mobility, isometric muscle strength and CSR 20 score increased, whereas VAS score, pain related factors 5-HT, NGF and PGE₂ content decreased in both groups (<italic>P</italic><0.01). Compared with control group, median nerve F wave conduction velocity, cervical vertebral mobility, isometric muscle strength and CSR 20 subscale scores increased, while VAS score decreased, pain related factors 5-HT, NGF and PGE₂ contents decreased in the observation group (<italic>P</italic><0.01). <b>Conclusion:Modified Guizhi Jia Gegen Tang is effective in treating CSR with Qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, and can significantly improve the neck and hand functions and relieve pain.