A clinical trial of acupuncture as an adjuvant treatment of bronchial athma

Abstract EN

There is adequate clinical experience of treating bronchial asthma with acupuncture, but its effect still controversial.

One hundred seventy six patients suffering from bronchial asthma were included in this study.

They were classified into two groups; group I comprised 62 patients, and group U comprised 114 patients which served as a control group.

Both groups were given medical treatment of asthma and chest physiotherapy.

Needle acupuncture was given as an adjuvant treatment for group 1 only.

Patients were followed up for one year.

The effectiveness of the treatment was determined by using percentage of peak expiratory flow rate before and after the treatment.

The incidence of exercise induced asthma as well as the daily dosage of corticosteroid were evaluated.

The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between group I and group II as regards peak expiratory flow rate percentage before and after the treatment.

There was a non statistically significant difference between group I and group 11 as regards exercise induced asthma.

Also we found that the daily dosage of corticosteroids had been reduced in both groups.

we concluded that acupuncture may play a role in the management of chronic bronchial asthma and that the daily dosage of corticosteroids in corticosteroid-dependent cases may be reduced by using acupuncture.