Acupuncture Jiaji Points And Point Injection Treatment Of Postherpetic Neuralgia Clinical Research

Objective: To observe the clinical therapeutic effect of integrated acupuncture of JiaJi-points and acupoint injection on post-herpetic neuralgia.Method: 52 consecutive cases were divided into two groups randomly. Regarding the treatment group (n=32, male 19, female 13, aged 51-82, average64.9), 18 cases had suffered from PHN for 3-5 months and 14 cases for 6-13months; 18cases suffered from intercostals neuralgia, 9 lumbar neuralgia, 3 sacral neuralgia, 2 upper limb neuralgia. While in the control group, (n=20, male 13, female 7, aged 52-78, average63.1 ), 11 cases had suffered from PHN for 3-5 months and 9 cases for 6-13months; 7cases suffered from intercostals neuralgia, 6 lumbar neuralgia, 5 sacral neuralgia, 2 upper limb neuralgia. Therapeutical method: 1 Acupuncture of the treatment group: ① choosing acupoints: Chose Jiaji-acupoints around the relative peri-nerve root. ②Manipulation: posed the cases in the prone position, pressed the related acupoints for a while before acupuncture, chose 0. 35mm× 40mm needles, needled25³0mm at an angle of 70-80 degrees with the needle tops obliquely toward the spine at a distance of 0.5 cun to the spine. After obtaining Qi, applied the manipulation of neutral supplementation and drainage, remained the needles for 30mins while applying the manipulation of lifting and inserting for 1 min within the range of 10mm every 10mins. This treatment was applied once per day. Acupoint injection: ① Recipe: VitminB₁ 50mg, VitminB₁₂ 0.5mg, 10%Glucose 3ml. ②chose the acupoints on the affected side of Herpes Zoster, exactly speaking, Jiaji-acupoints from T1 to T8 were chosen for the neuralgia in the thoracic and back regions, T6-L5 for the neuralgia in the lumbar and abdominal regions, L1-L5 for the neuralgia in the sacral region, T1-T3 for the neuralgia in the upper extremities. ③ Manipulation: drew the medication mentioned above with a 10ml empty syringe, posed the patients in a prone position, exposed their back and lumbar regions completely, needled quickly 1.3-2.5cm after regular sterilization; drew a little bit to ensure that there was no regurgitant blood and then injected the medication to the acupoints. Pressed the needle hole to prevent bleeding after the withdrawal of the needles. And the injections were given to 3 or 3 acupoints related to the lesions. 1.8-2.6ml medication was given to each acupoint every other day.2 The treatment of the control group: metindol 25mg, Tid, P.O; Vitamin B₁ 100mg, i.m, qd, VitaminB₁₂ 0.25mg, i.m, qd. Treatment course: The two groups were treated 10 days as a course and the efficacy was assessed after two consecutive courses.Results: The scores of symptoms before and after the treatment: with regard to pain, itching, burning, sleep, each group was superior to itself after the treatment compared with those before the treatment(p<0.05 or 0.01); compared with the control group after treatment, the treatment group is significantly superior(p< 0.01) .The cured and effective rates of the treatment group and the control group were 90.63% and 60% respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups concerning the clinical cured rate(p<0.01).Also a difference concerning the total effective rate(p<0.05) .Conclusion: The treatment of integrated acupuncture of JiaJi-points andacupoint injection on post-herpetic neuralgia has a better therapeutical effect compared with metindol. The mechanism might be: 1 Needling Jiaji-acupoints along the related peri-nerve roots can stimulate the special region around the legion(s) which might block the neural fibers related to pain sensation and lift the pain threshold; result in conduction of needle sensation which might induce sympathetic nerves to release chemical agents through the adjustment of nerve-body fluids.2 Acupoint-injection of VitaminBi and VitaminBi2 can stimulate the acupoints, bring the nourishing functions of VitaminBi and Vitamin B12 into full play, meanwhile, let the medication function around the lesions directly.