title: [Observation on therapeutic effects of pricking blood therapy by fire-needle with different bleeding amount on acute gouty arthritis of the foot].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe therapeutic effects of pricking blood therapy by fire-needle with different bleeding amount on acute gouty arthritis of the foot.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred and thirty cases of acute gouty arthritis of the foot were randomly divided into group A, group B and group C according to the visiting sequence. They were treated by fire-needle respectively with 20 mL, 40 mL and 60 mL bleeding amount.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The effective rate in the group A, B and C was respectively 88.1%, 92.8% and 97.6%, the group C being the best, with a very significant difference between the group C and the group A (P < 0.01), and a significant difference between the group C and the group B (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pricking blood therapy is an effective method for acute gouty arthritis of the foot and the therapeutic effect is related with the bleeding amount, the more bleeding amount, the better the therapeutic effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of TCM, Medical College of Qinghai University, Xining 810001, China. wenshaodun-19675@163.com
authors.forename: Shao-Dun
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D015210:Arthritis, Gouty / Q000628:therapy; D006470:Hemorrhage; D006801:Humans; D009339:Needles