Electroacupuncture at Qiuxu (GB 40) for treatment of migraine--a clinical multicentral random controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at Qiuxu (GB 40) for treatment of migraine so as to provide clinical evidence for compilation of the Acupoints' Dictionary of the People's Republic of China. METHODS: 275 migraine patients admitted in 3 hospitals were randomly divided into a treatment group treated by EA at Qiuxu (GB 40), and a control group treated by EA at Tianshu (ST 25). The indexes of the migraine symptoms and the 5-HT level were observed in both the groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in VAS score between the two groups of the 3 clinical centers (P<0.01). The therapeutic effects of a 4-week treatment were much better in the treatment group than that of the control group. The 3-month follow-up survey showed that the long-term effects were in favor of the treatment group of the first and third clinical centers, though no significant difference was found in the treatment group of the second clinical center as compared with the control group. The results from the 6-month follow-up survey showed better effects in the treatment group of all the 3 clinical centers. CONCLUSION: EA at Qiuxu (GB 40) may show effect for migraine.

[Study on the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture on migraine and influencing factors].

OBJECTIVE: To compare therapeutic effects of electrical acupuncture (EA) at Qiuxu (GB 40) and Tianshu (ST 25), and to probe the factors of influencing the therapeutic effect. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy-five cases were randomly divided into the test group of 138 cases treated with EA at Qiuxu (GB 40) and the control group of 137 cases treated with EA at Tianshu (ST 25). Their therapeutic effects were observed and the factors influencing the therapeutic effect were analyzed. RESULTS: The transient effective rate was 70.3% in the test group and 58.4% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05), and there were very significant differences between the two groups in the therapeutic effects at treatment of 4 weeks, and following-up 3 and 6 months later (P<0.001), the transient analgesic effect of EA at Qiuxu (GB 40) being better. EA had better transient effect on migraine for the mental workers, or the patient with high pain score at treatment, or more frequent attack. The long-term analgesic effect of EA at Qiuxu (GB 40) was better than Tianshu (ST 25). CONCLUSION: The analgesic effect of EA at Qiuxu (GB 40) is better than Tianshu (ST 25) and the profession and conditions of the patient are the factors influencing the therapeutic effect.