Efficacy of Acupuncture Combined with Electroacupuncture for the Treatment of Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Zhang Wei, Li Na, Wang Fang, Chen Yu, Liu Yang
Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with electroacupuncture in the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR) and to compare its effects with conventional acupuncture. Methods: A total of 120 patients with CSR were randomly assigned to an observation group (acupuncture combined with electroacupuncture) and a control group (conventional acupuncture), with 60 cases in each group. The treatment was administered once daily for 14 days. The primary outcomes were the visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score for cervical spine function. Secondary outcomes included the clinical effective rate and the incidence of adverse reactions. Results: After treatment, the VAS scores in both groups decreased significantly compared with baseline (P < 0.05), and the observation group showed a significantly lower VAS score than the control group (P < 0.05). The JOA scores increased significantly in both groups (P < 0.05), with a significantly higher score in the observation group (P < 0.05). The total effective rate was 95.0% in the observation group, which was significantly higher than 83.3% in the control group (P < 0.05). No serious adverse reactions were observed in either group. Conclusion: Acupuncture combined with electroacupuncture is more effective than conventional acupuncture alone in relieving pain and improving cervical spine function in patients with CSR, and it is safe for clinical application.
