Clinical Observation of Thread-Embedding at Acupoint Therapy on AECOPD of Phlegm-heat Congesting Lung

Objective: To observe the effects of thread-embedding at acupoint therapy on acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD) with phlegm-heat congesting the lung.Methods: 60 cases of AECOPD were randomly divided into treatment group,which was used the thread-embedding at acupoint therapy combined with western conventional therapy and the control group,which was given the western conventional therapy only.There were some indices being recorded including the TCM symptoms,the frequency of AECOPD and the frequency of severe AECOPD and the SGRQ scores before and after treatment for 3 months.Results: The total effective rate after treatment in the treatment group was 93.33%,which was better than the that in the control group.The treatment group had better scores than the control group in TCM symptoms.On the aspects of cough,expectoration,wheezing,fatigue,cyanosis,expectoration of sputum color yellow sticky and uncomfortable,the patients in the treatment group recovered better than the ones in the control group.However,there were no significant differences between 2 groups including chest tightness,shortness of breath,fever,dry mouth,yellow urine and constipation.Within 3 months after treatment,the treatment group had fewer times of AECOPD than the control group.Unfortunately,the frequencies of severe AECOPD in 2 groups were similar.After treatment,2 groups had better SGRQ scores in the aspects of symptom,influence,activity and total aspects than before the treatment.And the treatment group had better scores than the control group in the aspect of total score and sectional scores except the activity score.Conclusion:The effect of thread-embedding at acupoint combined with western conventional therapy is better than western conventional therapy the treatment of AECOPD with phlegm-heat congesting the lung syndrome.This combined therapy can improve the TCM symptoms,reduce the frequency of AECOPD and ameliorate the quality of life.