WU Zhongchao's experience in treatment of allergic rhinitis by acupuncture-moxibustion at "band-like function zone of back-shu points". / 吴中朝针灸背俞功能带治疗变应性鼻炎经验撷要.

The paper introduces professor WU Zhongchao's clinical experience in treatment of allergic rhinitis by acupuncture and moxibustion. Allergic rhinitis is closely associated with the dysfunction of lung, spleen and kidney. Based on the theory of "band-like function zone of back-shu points", the main acupoints related to the affected zangfu organs are selected to enhance the conductivity, regulate zangfu function and strengthen the antipathogenic qi specially; and the supplementary points are combined in terms of syndrome/pattern differentiation so that both symptoms and root causes of the disease can be treated simultaneously, the symptoms of allergic rhinitis be attenuated and the recurrence be prevented.

Treatment of diabetic foot with moxibustion: Clinical evidence from meta-analysis.

To assess the efficacy of moxibustion for diabetic foot, and compile the findings of randomised clinical trials. China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Medicine, WanFang Database, Embase, Chinese Scientific Journal Database and Web of Science were from the establishment to January, 2024 were searched. Randomised controlled trials, which evaluated the effects of moxibustion were included. A total of 12 randomised controlled trials involving 1196 patients were included. According to the pooled results of this meta-analysis, effective rate (relative risk 1.16, 95% confidence intervals, CI [1.11, 1.22]), healing time (mean difference [MD] -6.27, 95% CI [-8.68, -3.86]), wound area (MD 3.46, 95% CI [0.84, 6.09]), and ankle brachial index (MD 0.14, 95% CI [0.03, 0.24]) were statistically significant compared to the control group. This study suggests that moxibustion treatment has the potential for improving symptoms of diabetic foot. However, future in-depth research on the benefits and harms of moxibustion for the diabetic foot is needed before it can be accepted as an evidence-based treatment.

[Observation of acupoint application of gel plaster on insomnia].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupoint application of gel plaster on quality of sleep and life in patients with insomnia. METHODS: A total of 63 patients with insomnia were randomized into a gel plaster group (32 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a placebo plaster group (31 cases). Acupoint application of gel plaster was applied at Yintang (GV 29) and Yongquan (KI 1) in the gel plaster group, placebo plaster was applied at the same acupoints in the placebo plaster group. The treatment was given from bedtime to early moming of the next day, 5 days were as one course, with 2-day interval, totally 4 courses were required in the both groups. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and Flinders fatigue scale were used to evaluate the sleep quality and fatigue level of the patients in the both groups before and after treatment and at 2 weeks of follow-up. The variations of insomnia TCM syndrome score and the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) score before and after treatment were observed. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the scores of PSQI, ESS and FFS after treatment and at follow-up were decreased in the both groups (P<0.01), and the variations of PSQI total scores and ESS scores in the gel plaster group were larger than those in the placebo plaster group (P<0.05). Compared before treatment, the insomnia TCM syndrome scores were decreased (P<0.01), the scores of physiological function, physiological role, general health, role emotion, mental health of SF-36 were improved after treatment in the both groups (P<0.05), and the social function score after treatment in the gel plaster group was superior to that in the placebo plaster group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupoint application of gel plaster can effectively improve the quality of sleep and life in patients with insomnia.

Perioperative Electroacupuncture Can Accelerate the Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function in Cancer Patients Undergoing Pancreatectomy or Gastrectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The effect of perioperative acupuncture on accelerating gastrointestinal function recovery has been reported in colorectal surgery and distal gastrectomy (Billroth-II). However, the evidence in pancreatectomy and other gastrectomy is still limited. A prospective, randomized controlled trial was conducted between May 2018 and August 2019. Consecutive patients undergoing pancreatectomy or gastrectomy in our hospital were randomly assigned to the electroacupuncture (EA) group and the control group. The patients in the EA group received transcutaneous EA on Bai-hui (GV20), Nei-guan (PC6), Tian-shu (ST25), and Zu-san-li (ST36) once a day in the afternoon, and the control group received sham EA. Primary outcomes were the time to first flatus and time to first defecation. In total, 461 patients were randomly assigned to the groups, and 385 were analyzed finally (EA group, n = 201; control group, n = 184). Time to first flatus (3.0 ± 0.7 vs 4.2 ± 1.0, P < 0.001) and first defecation (4.2 ± 0.9 vs 5.4 ± 1.2, P < 0.001) in the EA group were significantly shorter than those in the control group. Of patients undergoing pancreatectomy, those undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy and intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) surgery benefitted from EA in time to first flatus (P < 0.001) and first defecation (P < 0.001), while those undergoing distal pancreatectomy did not (P flatus=0.157, P defecation=0.007) completely. Of patients undergoing gastrectomy, those undergoing total gastrectomy and distal gastrectomy (Billroth-II) benefitted from EA (P < 0.001), as did those undergoing proximal gastrectomy (P=0.015). Patients undergoing distal gastrectomy (Billroth-I) benefitted from EA in time to first defecation (P=0.012) but not flatus (P=0.051). The time of parenteral nutrition, hospital stay, and time to first independent walk in the EA group were shorter than those in the control group. No severe EA complications were reported. EA was safe and effective in accelerating postoperative gastrointestinal function recovery. Patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy, IORT surgery, total gastrectomy, proximal gastrectomy, or distal gastrectomy (Billroth-II) could benefit from EA. This trial is registered with NCT03291574.

[Bibliometric analysis of refractory facial paralysis based on CNKI database].

The current development situation and the hotspot of the relevant research on refractory facial paralysis are explored. The articles on refractory facial paralysis are retrieved from CNKI database. The bibliographic items co-occurrence matrix builder (BICOMB) 2.0 is adopted to extract and analyze statistically literature characteristics and generate the high-frequency keywords matrix. The graphical clustering toolkit (gCLUTO) 1.0 is used to cluster the high-frequency keywords. A total of 750 articles are included, mostly published in Journal of Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustion (63 articles), Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion (54 articles) and Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (27 articles) separately. The number of published articles by the active first authors are accounted for 10.1% of the total. When the high-frequency keywords are clustered into 4 categories, the topics with good cluster effect including the inheritance of the experiences of famous doctors in the comprehensive treatment of refractory facial paralysis, the comprehensive treatment measures with the a quite high curative effect on refractory facial paralysis based on heat-sensitive moxibustion and those based on the intervention by enhancing acupoint stimulation effect, as well as the study on the comprehensive treatment measures. General speaking, the regimen of acupuncture and moxibustion is a hotspot in the study on refractory facial paralysis. Research fellows give the consideration on the inheritance of the experiences of famous doctors, adopt the comprehensive treatment methods and enhance the actions of "warming" and "promoting" in the regimen by focusing on the pathogenesis. Such an idea has certain enlightening role to the study on the treatment of refractory diseases.

[Needle-embedding treatment for hemifacial spasm: research progress].

The articles regarding needle-embedding treatment for hemifacial spasm published before September 30, 2019 were searched from SinoMed, Wanfang, CNKI, VIP and PubMed database, and were analyzed and summarized from treatment methods, acupoint selection, stage differentiation and action mechanism. As a result, 45 Chinese articles were obtained. The needle-embedding treatment was divided into intradermal needling and acupoint thread-embedding; the top five acupoints were Sibai (ST 2), Taiyang (EX-HN 5), Dicang (ST 4), Jiache (ST 6) and spasm trigger points. The basic research of needle-embedding treatment for hemifacial spasm is weak, and the literature regarding stage differentiation is insufficient, which are in need of further study.