[Chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan (ST 7) combined with intradermal needling on negative emotions in primary trigeminal neuralgia of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan (ST 7) combined with intradermal needling on negative emotion in primary trigeminal neuralgia (PTN) of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis. METHODS: Sixty cases of patients with PTN of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each group. The observation group was treated with chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan (ST 7) combined with intradermal needling (acupoints Sibai [ST 2], Yuyao [EX-HN 4], Hegu [LI 4], Taichong [LR 3] and auricular points Xin [CO15], Shenmen [TF4], Pizhixia [AT4], etc.), once a day, 6 d as a course of treatment, rest 1 d between courses, a total of 2 courses of treatment; and the control group was given oral carbamazepine tablets for 13 days. Before and after treatment, the pain visual analogue scale (VAS), TCM syndromes, self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) scores and the contents of serum neurotransmitter (ß-endorphin [ß-EP], substance P [SP] and 5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) were compared, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: After treatment, the VAS, SAS, TCM syndrome scores and the contents of serum SP in the two groups were lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and the above indexes in the observation group was lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The contents of serum ß-EP and 5-HT in the two groups were higher than those before treatment (P<0.05), and the above indexes in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 93.3% (28/30), which was higher than 83.3% (25/30) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan (ST 7) combined with intradermal needling can relieve pain symptoms and negative emotions in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis, which may be related to the regulation of serum neurotransmitter levels.

Metric method for sex determination based on the 12th thoracic vertebra in contemporary north-easterners in China.

Many studies have shown that discriminant function equations, used in the determination of sex from skeletons, are population specific. The aim of the present research was to develop discriminant function equations for sex determination using the 12th thoracic vertebra (T12) in a contemporary northeast Chinese sample and to investigate whether the differences of the T12 between males and females consist more in shape than in size. Thirty linear measurements were obtained from 141 three-dimensional reconstructed T12 models (78 males and 63 females), and then 112 ratios were calculated by using the thirty linear measurements. Of the 30 linear measurements, 28 were sexually dimorphic, and their univariate discriminant function equations predicted sex with 56.4-90.1% accuracies. Of the 112 ratios, 62 were sexually dimorphic, with accuracies ranging from 56.7% to 73.8%. Using stepwise method of discriminant function analysis, four variables predicted sex with 94.2% accuracy. It is concluded that the T12 vertebra of the north-easterners in China is useful for sex determination, and the size of the T12 vertebra contributes more than the shape in the differences of the T12 vertebra between males and females.