Effect Of Combination Of Yinqiguiyuan Acupuncture With Traditional Chinese Herb On Hypomenorrhea Categorized As Deficiency Of Liver-yin And Kidney-yin

ObjectivesOur previous studies showed favorable effects of combination of Yinqiguiyuan acupuncture with traditional Chinese herb on hypomenorrhea categorized as deficiency of liver-yin and kidney-yin. Thus in the present prospective study, we systematically compared the changes of TCM syndrome score, integrogram of menstrual loss, and the thickness of endometrium before and after the treatments. We aimed to seek the clinical basis for the application of combination of Yinqiguiyuan acupuncture with traditional Chinese herb on hypomenorrhea.MethodsThe participants were recruited according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. All included participants (n=60) were numbered in order. After matched with the random number table generated by SPSS 17.0 (IBM, Chicago, IL), the participants were divided into two groups, the treatment group and the control group. In the treatment group, participants were treated by Yinqiguiyuan acupuncture combined with Yishenzigan decoction. Treatments were applied during participant’s intermenstrual period. The Yishenzigan decoction was supplied one dose a day. And the participants were instructed to take the decoction in the morning and in the evening before meal. Regarding the Yinqiguiyuan acupuncture, the participants were treated for 30 min after acuesthesia. They were treated twice a week. One menstrual cycle was considered a course of the treatment. After three courses, the therapeutic effects of acupuncture were measured. In the control group, the participants were treated using sequential therapy of Western medicine, of which the drugs were estradiol valerate and medroxyprogesterone acetate. And the treatment was as the followings. The participants were instructed to take estradiol valerate from the 5th day of menstruation (lmg/d), thus for 21 consecutive days. Medroxyprogesterone acetate (4mg/d) was added from the 11th day of using estradiol valerate. Thus one month was considered as one course of the treatment. After three courses of the treatments, the therapeutic effects were also measured. Data of TCM syndrome score, integrogram of menstrual loss, and the thickness of endometrium were collected from both groups before and after each treatments. All data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0.ResultsWe included 60 participants, of which 30 participants were assigned to the treatment group and the others to the control group. There is no significant difference before intervention between the two study groups in age, body mass index (BMI), course of disease, TCM syndrome score, integrogram of menstrual loss, and the thickness of endometrium. One participant withdrew from the control group due to pregnancy. The effective rate of treatment group and control group was 86.67% and 65.52%, respectively. We observed a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). To be more specifically, the treatment group was better than the control group in improving the menstrual blood volume (P<0.05) and TCM syndrome score (P<0.05). However, the two groups did not differ from each other in improving the thickness of endometrium, while both treatments could improve it within group. It’s noteworthy that we did not observe any adverse reaction and abnormal outcome measurements, which suggested that the application of combination of acupuncture and traditional Chinese herb is safe and reliable.ConclusionThe combination of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine was proved to be effective in treating hypomenorrhea categorized as deficiency of live-yin and kidney-yin. The combination was safe and reliable without toxic and side effect, thus it is worthy of spreading in treating hypomenorrhea.