[Efficacy of Modified Acupuncture Method at Renying (ST 9) for Patients with Cervical Spondylosis of Vertebral Artery Type and Its Impact on Velocity of Cervical Blood Flow].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of modified acupuncture at Renying point (ST 9) for patients with cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type and its influence on velocity of cervical blood flow.

METHODS: Fifty-nine cases of vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis were randomly divided into control group ( n =30) and treatment group ( n =29). Both groups were acupunctured at ST 9, with routine acupuncture technique used in the control group and modified technique in the treatment group, respectively. All cases received two courses of treatment, each course covered consecutive 6 once-per-day treatments. Before and after treatment, transcranial Doppler (TCD) was used to measure the systolic peak blood flow velocity (Vs) of left vertebral artery (LVA), right vertebral artery (RVA) and basilar artery (BA), and the scores of "cervical vertigo symptoms and functional assessment scale" (CVSFAS) were also assessed, separately.

RESULTS: CVSFAS scoring, Vs of LVA, RVA and BA after treatment showed significant improvement compared with those before treatment ( P <0.01, P <0.05). The efficacy of the treatment group in the above mentioned indexes was superior to that of the control group ( P <0.05). The total effective rate of the treatment group was 93.1% (27/29), superior to 70.0% (21/30) of the control group ( P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The modified acupuncture method at ST 9 is clinically effective in the treatment of cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type via increasing the Vs of vertebral-basilar artery, improving the local blood circulation and relieving pain.