Treatment of 30 patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy by acupuncture plus warming-needle moxibustion: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus warming-needle moxibustion for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. MethodsSixty patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were randomly divided into a warming-needle moxibustion group (group A) and an acupuncture group (group B) according to random number table, with thirty cases in each group. For the patients in the group A, Fēngchí (▪ GB 20), Jīngjiāj▪ (Jiājī points on the neck), Dàzhuī (▪ GV 14), Dàzhù (▪ BL 11), Jùgŭ (▪ LI 16), Tiānzōng (▪ SI 11), Tiānliáo (▪ TE 15), Jiānjīng (▪ GB 21) and Hégù (▪ LI 4) were selected for warming-needle moxibustion. In the group B, Jiānliáo (▪ TE 14), Jiānyú (▪ LI 15), Qūchí (▪ LI 11), Tiānjīng (▪ TE 10), Yángchí (▪ TE 4), and Wàiguān (▪ TE 5) were selected for acupuncture. Both groups were treated once a day and ten times constituted a course of treatment. ResultsCompared with the group B, significant differences were observed in the group A after a course of treatment in terms of 20-score scoring for symptoms of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, VAS scoring and clinical efficacy [16.63±2.31 vs 15.67±2.48, 2.36±1.59 vs 3.9812.32, 100% (30/30) vs 86.7%, all P<0.05]. ConclusionAcupuncture plus warming-needle moxibustion can significantly reduce neck pain and improve neck function of patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, which is worthy of clinical application due to its simple manipulation.