Observations on the Efficacy of Electroacupuncture plus Superficial Needling in Treating Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Herniation

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and advantages of electroacupuncture plus superficial needling in treating lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.Methods One hundred and fifty patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation were randomly allocated to three groups.The treatment group of 54 patients received superficial needling and sparse-dense wave electroacupuncture;control group 1 of 52 patients,sparse-dense wave electroacupuncture after arrival of qi subsequent to needling based on conventional syndrome differentiation and along-meridian point selection;control group 2 of 44 patients,Fuzhonghua superficial needling.The score was counted in different groups before treatment,after 1 and 2 courses of treatment,and at 4 weeks after treatment.Results After 2 courses of treatment,the total efficacy rate was 94.4% in the treatment group,82.7% in control group 1 and 93.2% in control group 2.There was a statistically significant difference between the treatment group and control group 1(P0.05) but no statistically significant difference between the treatment group and control group 2(P0.05).Conclusion The total efficacy rate of electroacupuncture plus superficial needling for lumbar intervertebral disc herniation is significantly higher than that of electroacupuncture alone.The therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture plus superficial needling is the same as that of Fuzhonghua superficial needling.The former is painless during needling,and simpler in operation and lower in cost than the latter.