OBJECTIVE： Several studies have reported that acupuncture is effective for treatment of acute lumbar sprain, but they neglected to consider that acupuncture cannot remarkably improve lumbar activity. We performed a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of acupuncture-movement therapy versus conventional acupuncture in the trea ment of acute lumbar sprain. METHODS： Sixty patients were randomized into four groups： the acupuncture-movement （AM） group, sham acupuncture-movement （SAM） group, conventional acupuncture （CA） group, and physical therapy （PT） group. Patients in the AM group were treated with acupuncture at Yintang （EX-HN 3） and exercise of the lumbar region during acupuncture. Patients in the SAM group were treated with sham acupuncture at Yintang （EX-HN 3） and exercise of the lumbar region during sham acupuncture. Con- ventional acupuncture was performed in the CA group, and physical therapy was applied in the PT group. Each treatment lasted for 20 min. Patients were assessed before and after treatment using a visual analogue scale （VAS） and the Roland Morris Questionnaire （RMQ）. RESULTS： The VAS and RMQ scores in the AM group were significantly lower after than before treatment （P 〈 0.01）. The AM group reported lower RMQ scores in after-treatment and 24 h after treatment and lower VAS score in 24 h after treatment in comparison with those of the CA, SAM, and PT groups （P 〈 0.05）. CONCULSlON： Acupuncture-movement therapy is effective for treating acute lumbar sprain with a persistent pain-relief and remarkable improvement of lumbar activity. Movement, that is, lumbar exercise during acupuncture, enhances the effect of acupuncture.
Lin RuizhuZhu NingLiu JianLi XinjianWang YueZhang JieXi Chaolei
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the traditional Chinese procedure abdominal Tuina(AT) on chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS).METHODS: This randomized, single assessor-blinded clinical trial was carried out from May 2014 to April 2015. Eighty participants in the trial were divided randomly into two groups: experimental group and control. The experimental group(40 cases) was treated by AT and the control group(40 cases) by acupuncture. Each treatment was conducted once a day, 5 d for one course, at an interval of 2 d between each course. The whole treatment course lasted for 4 weeks. To ascertain the effect of AT and acupuncture, Fatigue Scale-14(FS-14), Self-rating Anxiety Scale(SAS) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAMD) scores were used before and after treatment. Patients were followed up for3 months after treatment.RESULTS: After treatment for 4 weeks, 77 patients(39 cases in the experimental group and 38 cases in the control group) completed the trial. The FS-14,SAS and HAMD scores decreased(P < 0.05) significantly compared with those before treatment in both groups. The FS-14 and HAMD(P < 0.05) scores in the experimental group were much lower than those in the control group. The difference in SAS scores between the two groups was not significant.In the final follow-up, CFS in two cases in the experimental group and three in the control group recurred, but the difference was not significant. The scores for the FS-14, SAS and HAMD in the experimental group were superior to those of the control group, and the difference was significant(P < 0.05).No serious adverse events and few adverse events were observed.CONCLUSION: AT elicited a more efficacious effect than acupuncture alone on CFS.
