Impact of Wendu Tongmai fire therapy with prepared Chinese medicine on lumbar function and motor function in patients with lumbar disc herniation

Sun Yanyi; Yu Zhen

doi:10.11986/j.issn.1673-873X.2023.12.007

Abstract：Objective To investigate the impact of Wendu Tongmai fire therapy with prepared Chinese medicine on the lum-bar function and motor function of patients with lumbar disc herniation(LDH),in order to provide a reference for clinical treatment.Methods A total of 60 LDH patients admitted to Qiannan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from October 2021 to October 2022 were selected as the study participants.They were randomly allocated to a conventional acupuncture group and a fire therapy group,with 30 cases in each group.Patients in the conventional acupuncture group received conven-tional acupuncture treatment,while those in the fire therapy group underwent Wendu Tongmai fire therapy with prepared Chinese medicine on top of the conventional acupuncture.The study compared the TCM syndrome,visual analog scale(VAS),Japanese Orthopaedic Association(JOA)score on lumbar function,Oswestry Disability Index(ODI),Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale(FMA)scores,and levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT),substance P(SP),and neuropeptide Y(NPY)before and after treatment(2 weeks post-treatment)for both groups.The therapeutic effects of the two groups were compared after treatment.Results Before treatment,no statistically significant difference was observed in the TCM syn-drome scores for lumbar pain,limited movement,and lower limb numbness between the two groups(P＞0.05);after treatment,these scores were lower than before in both groups,with the fire therapy group showing significantly lower scores than the conventional acupuncture group(P＜0.05).Before treatment,no statistically significant difference was not-ed in the levels of 5-HT,SP,and NPY between the two groups(P＞0.05).After treatment,the levels of these substances were lower than before in both groups,with the fire therapy group showing significantly lower levels than the conventional acupuncture group(P＜0.05).Before treatment,no statistically significant difference was found in the JOA,ODI,VAS scores,and lumbar joint mobility between the two groups(P＞0.05).After treatment,the JOA scores and lumbar joint mobility were higher than before in both groups,with the fire therapy group showing significantly higher values than the conventional acupuncture group(P＜0.05).Moreover,the ODI and VAS scores were lower than before,with the fire ther-apy group showing significantly lower values than the conventional acupuncture group(P＜0.05).Before treatment,no sta-tistically significant difference was found in the FMA scores for rotation,flexion,and lateral flexion between the two groups(P＞0.05);after treatment,these scores were higher than before in both groups,with the fire therapy group showing sig-nificantly higher scores than the conventional acupuncture group(P＜0.05).The overall response rate of treatment in the fire therapy group was significantly higher than in the conventional acupuncture group(P＜0.05).Conclusion The combi-nation of conventional acupuncture with Wendu Tongmai fire therapy with prepared Chinese medicine can alleviate the TCM syndrome in LDH patients,reduce pain,improve lumbar function,lumbar disability,lumbar joint mobility,and lower limb motor function,providing a certain reference for the clinical treatment of LDH.