ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare, through randomized controlled trials of large samples of patients, the effects and mechanisms of needle-pricking therapy and rotating-pulling manipulation on blood velocity, angiokinesis, and blood viscosity in patients with vertebral artery cervical spondylosis.
Methods: Four-hundred thirty-two patients were randomly classified into a treatment group (needle-pricking therapy and rotating-pulling manipulation) or a control group (rotating-pulling manipulation only). After treatment, patients’ peak systolic blood velocity, end-diastolic blood velocity, pulsatile index, and resistant index of the bilateral vertebral arteries and basilar arteries were examined by transcranial Doppler sonography. The whole-blood and plasma viscosities of both groups were recorded, and the results for before and after treatment were compared and analyzed statistically.
Results: Although the peak systolic blood velocity and end-diastolic blood velocity values increased toward the normal ranges, and the pulsatile index and resistant index decreased significantly after treatment in both groups, the improvements observed in the treatment group were more significant than those in the control group (p< 0.05). The whole-blood and plasma viscosity of the treatment group improved after treatment.
Conclusion: Needle-pricking therapy and rotating-pulling manipulation have significant therapeutic effects on the blood supply to the brain, angiokinesis, blood viscosity, and body balance in patients with vertebral artery cervical spondylosis.
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