Efficacy of acupuncture combined with active functional exercise in the treatment of shoulder periar-thritis

Objective To explore the efficacy of acupuncture combined with active functional exer-cise in the treatment of shoulder periarthritis. Methods Sixty patients with shoulder periarthritis were ran-domly divided into acupuncture group and western drug group, 30 cases in each group. The patients were treat-ed with acupuncture combined with active functional exercise in acupuncture group, and oral diclofenac sodi-um sustained release capsules combined with active functional exercise in western drug group, 14 d for one course, a total of two courses. VAS and shoulder joint function integrals were used to evaluate the degree of pain and the shoulder joint function. Total effective rate and adverse reaction were observed. Results VAS and shoulder joint function integrals were lower after one and two treatment courses in the two groups than those before the treatment (P<0.05), and much lower after one and two courses of treatment in acupuncture group than those in the western drug group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 96.7% (29/30 cases) in acu-puncture group, and 80.0% (24/30 cases) in the western drug group, with significantly statistical difference. No patient showed adverse reactions in the acupuncture group, and 3 cases adverse reactions and 1 case abnormal liver function in the western drug group. Conclusion Acupuncture combined with active functional exercise is safe and effective in the treatment of shoulder periarthritis. Key words: Periarthritis of shoulder; Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy; Functional exercise