Therapeutic observation of cranial suture acupuncture in treating depression / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of cranial suture acupuncture plus paroxetine in treating depression,and to discuss the action mechanism of this acupuncture method.Methods:One hundred depression patients were allocated to an observation group and a control group according to the random number table,with 50 cases in each group.The control group was intervened by oral administration of paroxetine tablets,20 mg each time,once a day for successive 6 weeks;the observation group was additionally given cranial suture acupuncture,once a day for 6 weeks.They were scored by Hamilton depression scale-17 (HAMD-17) before the treatment and respectively after 1-week,2-week,4-week and 6-week treatment.The clinical efficacy and safety were also observed.Results:After 6-week treatment,the total effective rate was 94.0％ in the observation group versus 78.0％ in the control group,and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P＜0.01).The HAMD-17 scores respectively after 1-week,2-week,4-week and 6-week treatment were significantly lower than the score before the treatment in the observation group (all P＜0.05);the HAMD-17 scores respectively after 2-week,4-week and 6-week treatment were significantly different from the score before the treatment in the control group (all P＜0.05).There were significant differences in the HAMD-17 score between the two groups respectively after 4-week and 6-week treatment (both P＜0.05).Conclusion:Cranial suture acupuncture plus paroxetine can ease the symptoms of depression,with faster onset and more significant therapeutic efficacy compared with paroxetine alone.