Clinical observation on acupuncture at Jiaji (EX-B 2) points plus tuina in treating thoracic facet joint disorder

Objective

To observe the clinical effects of acupuncture at Jiaji (EX-B 2) points plus tuina manipulation for thoracic facet joint disorder, and get new clinical evidence for treatment of thoracic facet joint disorder.

Methods

Totally 106 patients with thoracic facet joint disorder were randomly allocated into an observation group and a control group based on the random number table. Patients in the control group were treated by tuina manipulation, while those in the observation group were treated by acupuncture at Jiaji (EX-B 2) points before tuina manipulation. Patients in the two groups were treated once a day. The improvements of signs and symptoms and the efficacy were observed after 3 treatments.

Results

After treatment, there were intra-group statistical differences in scores of 8 signs and symptoms in both groups (P<0.01); the score of each item in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, and there was statistical significance in the inter-group difference (P<0.05). The cure rate of the observation group was 50.9%, versus 26.4% in the control group, and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).

Conclusion

In treating thoracic facet joint disorder, acupuncture plus tuina manipulation can restore the biomechanical balance of thoracic vertebrae, fully maximized the combined effect, and significantly improve the clinical efficacy.