ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical effect, treatment times, and rheoencephalogram changes in vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis patients treated with innovative Tuina manipulations. METHODS: One hundred and twenty six cervical spondylosis patients (vertebral artery type) were randomly divided into test and control groups. Patients in the test group were treated with innovative Tuina manipulations, while those in the control group were treated with the routine Tuina manipulations according to the textbook of Chinese Massage for Acupuncture and Moxibustion majors. The clinical effects, treatment times, clinical symptoms, and cerebral blood flow were measured. RESULTS: The response to the treatment was 100% in the test group and 88.71% in the control group. Patients in the test group required (7 +/- 4) treatments before recovery, while those in the control group required (15 +/- 7) treatments before recovery (P<0.05). The clinical symptoms exhibited greater improvement in the test group compared to the control group (P<0.05). There were no differences in cerebral blood flow between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Both innovative Tuina manipulations and routine Tuina manipulations produced satisfactory therapeutic results in vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis patients. However, the innovative manipulation was more effective in improving the functional symptoms, although there were no changes in the cerebral blood flow.