[Observation on therapeutic effects of acupuncture combined with TDP irradiation and chinese herbal steaming and washing therapy for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome in early stage].
OBJECTIVE
To search for an effective therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome in early stage.


METHODS
Sixty cases were randomly divided into an observation group 1 (21 cases), an observation group 2 (22 cases) and a basic treatment group (17 cases). The patients in three groups were treated with oral administration of Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, compound Vitamin B and small splint for wrist protection as basic treatment, and the observation group 1 was also treated with acupuncture on local points as Laogong (PC 8), Yuji (LU 10), Hegu (LI 4) and Waiguan (TE 5) etc. combined with TDP irradiation, and the observation group 2 was treated with herbal steaming and washing on the affected part using Safflower and Lopseed etc. Electromyography, visual analogue scale (VAS) and clinical effect of three groups were observed before and after treatment.


RESULTS
The changes of electromyogra phy had no significant difference before and after treatment in all groups (all P > 0.05), the VAS scores in two ob servation groups were superior to that in basic treatment group (both P < 0.05). The excellent and good rates were 90.5% and 86.4% in the observation group 1 and the observation group 2 respectively, both higher than that of 64.7% in the basic treatment group.


CONCLUSIONS
Acupunture combined with TDP irradiation and Chinese herbal steaming and washing therapy both have significant therapeutic effects for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome in early stage.
Zhang
Cui-yan
CY
Acupuncture Department, The People's Hospital Affiliated to Peking University, Beijing 100044, China. pumczhangcy@sina.com
Wang
Yan-xiang
YX
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011878:Radiotherapy
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal