[Clinical research on fire filiform needle combined with mild moxibustion for postherpetic neuralgia].
OBJECTIVE
To compare efficacy differences between fire filiform needle combined with mild moxibustion and gabapentin combined with sham acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).


METHODS
One hundred cases of PHN were randomly divided into a needle group and a medicine group, 50 cases in each one. In the needle group, pricking method of fire filiform needle was given at the Ashi points, and then mild moxibustion was applied for 15 min. In the medicine group, the oral administration of gabapentin capsule and sham acupuncture at non-acupoints in the distal end of lesions were applied. The treatment was required for 21 days in both groups. The visual analogue score (VAS) was recorded before treatment and on the 1st day, 2nd day, 3rd day, 6th day, 9th day and 12th day of treatment. The most severity of pain within last 24 h, preset severity of pain, immediate analgesia effect and starting time of pain relief were observed, also the efficacy was assessed and improvement of symptoms was observed in the follow-up visit.


RESULTS
The total effective rate was 94.0% (47/50) in the fire filiform needle group, which was superior to 86.0% (43/50) in the medicine group (P < 0.05). Compared with medicine group, the VAS of the most severity of pain within last 24 h was obviously reduced after the 2nd treatment in the fire filiform needle group while that of present severity of pain was relieved after the 1st treatment (both P < 0.05). The immediate analgesia effect in the fire filiform needle group was obviously superior to that in the medicine group in the first three times of treatment (all P < 0.05). The average time of pain relief was (3.91 +/- 0.82) days in the fire filiform needle group, which was significantly earlier to (6.53 +/- 1.13) days in the medicine group (P < 0.05). 26 cases were cured in the fire filiform needle group in the follow-up visit, which was superior to 2 cases in the medicine group (P < 0.05). The improvement of VAS, pain range and sleep quality in the needle group were also superior to those in the medicine group (all P < 0.05). The direct medical cost in the fire filiform needle group was (232.32 +/- 48.108) yuan, which was significantly lower than (466.00 +/- 41.09) yuan in the medicine group (P < 0.05). There was only one case of adverse effect in the medicine group during the treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
The fire filiform needle combined with mild moxibustion could obviously relieve the pain in PHN patients, which has superior immediate analgesia effect and pain relieving time compared with gabapentin, which also has less adverse effects and cheap cost.
Shi-Xi
SX
Huang
Mei
M
Mao
Jing-Jing
JJ
Pu
Yue-Hui
YH
Chen
Lin
L
Deng
Hong
H
Zhao
Mei-Jing
MJ
Geng
Run-Fen
RF
Zhong
Ya-Jie
YJ
Guo
Zhi-Shun
ZS
Liu
Ying-Hui
YH
Wang
Yong-Ming
YM
Ye
Jun
J
Liu
Tao
T
Yang
Ai-Mei
AM
Zhao
Xiao-Hong
XH
Chen
Hai-Yan
HY
Zhu
Yue-Chen
YC
Du
D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009071:Moxibustion; D051474:Neuralgia, Postherpetic / Q000628:therapy*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016896:Treatment Outcome