Clinical Study On The Combination Of Acupotomy Therapy And Massage Therapy In The Treatment Of Nerve Root Cervical Spondylosis

Introduction:Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy (CSR) is a progressive degenerative disease process which presents sensory motor deficiencies and wide-range discomfort. CRS of the neck and shoulder in particular is now one of the most common diagnosed orthopedic conditions in Malaysian clinical setting. In recent years, the number of patients diagnosed with CSR has increased dramatically and the age trend has moved significantly to the younger population. The chronic discomfort and pain caused by CSR have impact greatly on patient's quality of life.Objective: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of combining acupotomy and massage therapy, in comparison to using ordinary acupuncture therapy, to provide simple, rapid yet effective treatment solution to CSR affected patients.Methods:In May 2010 to December 2010 in Herbal Healing Centre, Malaysia with Chinese Medicine Clinics,70 cases of the nerve-root type cervical spondylotic radiculopathy was selected according to the pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria.35 cases were selected as the treatment group and 35 cases as the control group. The treatment group was treated using the combination of acupotomy and massage therapy, where acupotomy therapy was performed followed by massage therapy. After the treatment day, patients were advised to exercise their neck frequently in order to prevent surgical areas to overlap again. The acupotomy therapy and massage therapy were repeated every 4 days until the first course has been fully completed (3 times per course). The clinical index was observed and the data was collected prior to the first treatment and after the first and second treatment. The compared results of the curative effects were given by comparison and analysis of the materials statistically. On the other hand, the control group was treated with the combination of acupuncture and massage therapy every day, for 10 days (10 days per course). Patients were advised to rest for 3-5 days upon completion of the first course. The second course of treatment was performed after 3-5 days. The clinical index was observed and the data was collected prior the treatment and after the first and second treatment. The compared results of the curative effects were given by comparison and analysis of the materials statistically. SPSS Version 16.0 was used to analyze the treatment effectiveness of the two groups in the research period.Results:After the second course of treatment, the result of the treatment group was corresponded to the control group in the total effect (P> 0.05). After the first course of treatment, the comparison index of PRI, VAS and PPI pain score index of the treatment group and the control group were P<0.05. This shows that the analgesic effect in the treatment group was significantly better than the control group. After the first and the second courses, the comparison of functional and symptoms scores between the treatment group and the control group were P>0.05. These results showed that both of the treatment group and control group achieved effective improvement in physical functions and symptoms respectively. After the treatment, the highest cure rate was 45.71%, the intermediate cure rate was 40.0%, the lower cure rate was 14.29% and no effect was 0%, the total effective rate was 100.0% for the treatment group; the highest cure rate was 28.57%, the intermediate cure rate was 22.85%, the lower cure rate was 20.00% and no effect was 28.58%, the total effective rate was 71.42% for the control group.Conclusions:In Conclusion, both treatment and control group achieved improvement in their CSR condition after treatment. Symptoms of pain, numbness, stiffness, discomfort and impact of work living score, were significantly lower than those before treatment. However, the treatment group of acupotomy therapy combined with massage therapy was superior to the control group of acupuncture therapy combined with massage therapy; the analgesic effect in the treatment group was significantly better than the control group. Moreover, this method is widely accepted by most treated patients. Thus, acupotomy therapy introduced is more time and cost effective than the conventional acupuncture therapy and it is worth to be introduced and generalized as a modern clinical method in practice.