Clinical Observation On Treating Postherpetic Neuralgia By Acupuncture Combined With Blood-letting Puncturing And Cupping Therapy

Objectives: This subject takes acupuncture treatment as control,through the clinical observation on treating postherpetic neuralgia by acupuncture combined with blood-letting puncturing and cupping therapy,exploring the clinical effect of acupuncture combined with pricking and cupping in the treatment of this disease and verifying that it is better than acupuncture alone,with the purpose of seeking a much safer,more reliable and stable therapeutic schedule for the clinical application,so as to alleviate the pain of patients.Methodology:This study collected 70 patients with postherpetic neuralgia who met the inclusion criteria,and all were treated in the rheumatic pain department of Wuhan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from August 2015 to October 2017,according to the order of medical treatment,random allocation into 35 cases in the treatment group and 35 cases in the control group.After patients agreed and signed informed consent,the treatment group was treated by acupuncture combined with blood-letting puncturing and cupping therapy,and the control group was treated by acupuncture.The therapeutic effect of the two groups was evaluated,and the related data were analyzed statistically.Results:(1)The intra-group VAS scores before and after treatment were compared in the VAS scores of the two groups,The difference was statistically significant(P <0.01),suggesting that both of the two therapies could effectively relieve the pain of PHN patients.After treatment,the VAS score of treatment group was significantly different from that of control group(P <0.05),indicating that acupuncture combined with blood-letting puncturing and cupping therapy is better than acupuncture alone in analgesia effect.(2)In the aspect of sleep quality,the difference of PSQI before and after treatment was statistically significant(P<0.01),indicating that the two treatment methods had significant effect on improving sleep quality.After treatment,the PSQI of the two groups were compared and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05),suggesting that acupuncture combined with blood-letting puncturing and cupping therapy was more effective than acupuncture alone on improving sleep quality.(3)In terms of clinical efficacy,statistical analysis being done at the end of treatment indicated cured in 8 cases,obviously effective in 18 cases,improved in 4 cases,inefficient in 4 cases,and the total effective rate was 88.24%;control group with cured in 4 cases,obvious effective in 10 cases,improved in 11 cases,inefficient in 8 cases,the total effective rate was 75.75%.The total effective rates of PHN in both groups were statistically significant,but the therapeutic effect of PHN was better than that of the control group.After 2 months of treatment,cured in 10 cases,markedly effective in 19 cases,improved in 3 cases,inefficient in 2 cases,the total effective rate was 94.12 %;in the control group,cured in 4 cases,markedly efficient in 13 cases,improved in 10 cases,inefficient in 6 cases,the total effective rate was 81.81 %.Comparing the total effective rates of the two groups,the difference was statistically significant,showing that the treatment of PHN in both groups were effective,but the treatment group of short-term and long-term efficacy were better than the control group.(4)In the aspect of safety,the two groups did not appear burn,fainting during acupuncture,bending needle,broken needle,traumatic pneumothorax and other adverse events.Hematoma occurred in 1 case of each group,all with small bruises,but disappeared spontaneously after 2-3 days with no special treatment.In the control group,one patient appeared stuck needle due to emotional tension,and after massaged around the acupoints to relax the muscle back needle.It shows that operations of the two groups in this test both have high safety.Conclusion:Acupuncture and acupuncture combined with pricking and cupping are both effective in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia,but acupuncture combined with pricking and cupping is superior to acupuncture in the relief of pain,improvement of sleep quality and clinical effect.Acupuncture combined with pricking and cupping has the characteristics of simple operation,obvious curative effect,lasting stability,safety and reliability,which is worthy of clinical popularization and application.