Bi Hai-Jin, Wu Guo-Cheng, He Yu-Yu, Chen Hong-Yun, Zhou Shuang, Zhou Qing-Hui
Altern Ther Health Med. 2017 Jan;23(1):20-25.
Context • Wrist-ankle acupuncture (WAA) has been used to relieve both chronic and acute pain in China. Some research has shown that WAA can increase the pain thresholds in pain patients, but the ability of WAA to affect the pain thresholds in healthy adults is unknown. Objective • The study intended to assess the influence of WAA on the pain thresholds of healthy adults. Design • This is an observational study. Setting • This study was conducted in the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Second Military Medical University (Shanghai, China). Participants • Participants were 50 healthy university students aged 19-23 y. Intervention • In the theory of WAA, each side of the body and each limb are longitudinally divided into 6 regions, with 1 needling point defined for each region at the wrist or ankle. The theory indicates that needling a point should relieve pain in a point's corresponding region. For the study, a needle was inserted and retained for 30 min in the Upper 2 point of the left wrist of each participant. Outcome Measures • The pressure pain threshold was measured by a handheld algometer at a position in the left Upper 2 region corresponding to the site of the needling and at positions in the right Upper 2 region as well as the left and right Upper 3 regions not corresponding to the site of the needling. The measurements were taken at 40 min before needling, 5 min after needling, 30 min after needling when the needles were removed, and 70 min after needling. Results • The immediate influence of the WAA on the pain threshold was not significant at 5 min after needling (P > .05). However, at 30 min after needling when the needles were removed, the increases in the pain thresholds were statistically significant when compared to those at 40 min before needling, which were the measurements at baseline (P ≤ .01). At 70 min after needling, the pain thresholds remained higher than those at 40 min before needling (P < .05). From 40 min before needling to 70 min after needling, the pain thresholds in the different positions showed a continuous increase. Conclusions • The WAA had an analgesic effect on pressure-induced pain not only in the corresponding but also in the noncorresponding regions of the needling point in healthy adults. The immediate analgesic effect of the WAA at 5 min after needling was not obvious, but the effects at 30 min and 70 min after needling were statistically significant.
背景 • 在中国，腕踝针已被用于缓解慢性和急性疼痛。一些研究表明，腕踝针可以提高疼痛患者的痛阈，但腕踝针对健康成年人痛阈的影响尚不清楚。
目的 • 本研究旨在评估腕踝针对健康成年人痛阈的影响。
设计 • 这是一项观察性研究。
地点 • 本研究在第二军医大学（中国上海）中医学院进行。
参与者 • 参与者为50名年龄在19 - 23岁的健康大学生。
干预 • 根据腕踝针理论，身体的每一侧和每个肢体纵向分为6个区域，在手腕或脚踝的每个区域定义1个针刺点。该理论表明，针刺一个点应能缓解该点相应区域的疼痛。在本研究中，在每位参与者左手腕的上2点进针并留针30分钟。
观察指标 • 用手持式压力痛觉计在与针刺部位对应的左侧上2区域、右侧上2区域以及与针刺部位不对应的左侧和右侧上3区域测量压力痛阈。在针刺前40分钟、针刺后5分钟、针刺后30分钟（起针时）以及针刺后70分钟进行测量。
结果 • 针刺后5分钟，腕踝针对痛阈的即时影响不显著（P > 0.05）。然而，在针刺后30分钟起针时，与针刺前40分钟（基线测量值）相比，痛阈升高具有统计学意义（P ≤ 0.01）。在针刺后70分钟，痛阈仍高于针刺前40分钟（P < 0.05）。从针刺前40分钟到针刺后70分钟，不同部位的痛阈持续升高。
结论 • 腕踝针不仅对健康成年人针刺点的相应区域，而且对非相应区域的压力性疼痛均有镇痛作用。针刺后5分钟腕踝针的即时镇痛效果不明显，但针刺后30分钟和70分钟的效果具有统计学意义。
