Acupuncture Treatment Of Refractory Cough Clinical Observation

Rationale:Chronic cough can negatively affect patient’s quality of life due to substantial physical symptoms, anxiety and social isolation. Refractory chronic cough patients continue to have persistent cough even after extensive investigation and treatment adherence to guideline recommendation, the novel treatment approach should be sought to improve the outcome. Our study focuses on the efficacy of acupuncture in refractory cough.Methods:This randomized prospective single-blind trial was undertaken at outpatient clinic of Guang’anmen hospital and approved by hospital ethic review committee. Adults with refractory chronic cough (>8week duration) without active respiratory disease or infection were randomly assigned to receive Chinese herb (control group) or acupuncture combined with Chinese herb(trail group) for4weeks, and then followed up for8weeks. Acupuncture treatment was applied twice each week with acupoints DU20, EX-HN3, LU5LU7etc.The primary endpoint was change of cough-specific quality of life (Leicester cough questionnaire[LCQ] score) from baseline to4weeks of treatment, the second outcome was cough visual analogue scale (VAS) score.Results:44outpatients were assigned to trail group (n=22) and control group (n=22),3patients withdrew before study end. Baseline characteristics of the study patients were similar, all enrolled patients had received several treatment trails before study entry and their cough was refractory to these therapies. In cough-special quality of life (LCQ score) aspect, trail group showed a clinical improvement, but no statistical difference after4weeks treatment (17[80.9%] of21vs14[70%]of20;95%CI-0.82-2.7;p=0.106SPSS T-TEST). While at8week’s follow-up, trail group led to significant improvement compared with control group (between-group difference, p=0.018SPSS NPAR TEST). Statistically significant reductions in frequency and severity of cough (VAS score) were showed in trail group compared with control group(between-group difference,4week’s VAS p=0.011,8week’s VAS p=0.005, SPSS NPAR TEST). No adverse events occurred in these participants.Conclusion:The treatment of acupuncture combined with Chinese herb is both effective and safe. These data suggest the beneficial effect of acupuncture on refractory chronic cough.