Effects of Fire Needling Combined with Ankle Pump Exercise on the Hemorheology in Patients with Varicose Veins of the Lower Extremity
SHI Yiming
WANG Guang'an
LI Ruodi
Abstract：Objective:To investigate the effects of fire needling combined with ankle pump exercise on hemorheology and clinical efficacy in patients with varicose veins of the lower extremity(VVLE).Methods:A total of 60 patients with VVLE were randomly divided into the fire needling group,the ankle pump group,the combination group,and the blank group according to the random number table method,with 15 patients in each group.Among them,13 patients in the fire needling group completed the study,and 14 patients in the ankle pump group completed the study.The fire needling group received fire needling treatment once a week,while the ankle pump group performed 50 ankle pump movements three times a day.The combination group received both treatments,and the blank group only received health education.The observation period was 8 weeks for all groups.The blood rheology indicators,ultrasound blood flow velocity,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome scores,therapeutic effects,and adverse reactions of the four groups of patients were compared.Results:After 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment,except for the blank group,the whole blood viscosity(high/medium/low shear)and plasma viscosity of the other three groups were all lower than those before treatment,and the combination group was lower than the other groups(all P＜0.05);after 4 weeks of treatment,the blood flow velocity of the combination group increased and was higher than that of the other groups(all P＜0.05);after 8 weeks of treatment,the blood flow velocity of the combination group and the fire needling group both increased,and the combination group was higher than the other groups(all P＜0.05);after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment,the TCM syndrome scores of the combination group,the fire needling group,and the ankle pump group all decreased,and the combination group was lower than the other groups(all P＜0.05);after treatment,the total effective rate of the combination group(93.3％)was higher than that of the fire needling group(84.6％)and the ankle pump group(50.0％)(P＜0.05),and the overall efficacy comparison among the four groups showed a statistically significant difference(P＜0.05);no serious adverse reactions were observed in all four groups.Conclusion:The combination of fire needling therapy and ankle pump exercises can effectively improve the abnormal hemorheology and blood flow velocity in patients with VVLE,alleviate the TCM syndromes,enhance the therapeutic effect,and it is of good safety.The mechanism may be related to regulating high blood coagulation and improving microcirculation.
Keywords：varicose veins of the lower extremityfire needlingankle pump exercisehemorheologywhole blood viscosityplasma viscosityblood flow velocity
Publication Date：2026-03-05
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：8( 293-300 )