School of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012 Anhui Province, China.
Faculty of Traditional Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City 100000, Vietnam.
Behav Neurol. 2023 Sep 19;2023:5871991. doi: 10.1155/2023/5871991. eCollection 2023.
This randomized controlled trial investigates the efficacy of thread-embedding acupuncture (TEA) compared to sham TEA in treating drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Fifty-four DRE outpatients were randomly divided into two groups: TEA (27 patients) and sham TEA (27 patients). Both groups received four sessions of TEA or sham TEA, spaced four weeks apart, targeting GV20, GV14, BL15, BL18, ST40, and GB34 acupoints. Antiseizure medications were maintained at consistent doses throughout the study. Outcome measures included satisfactory seizure control, seizure freedom, and heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements. TEA demonstrated a significantly higher rate of satisfactory seizure control at follow-up compared to the sham TEA group (37% vs. 3.7%, = 0.003). While no significant intergroup differences were observed in HR, HRV, and HRV components at each stage, the TEA group experienced a significant decrease in HR and a significant increase in HRV posttreatment. This study demonstrates TEA's effectiveness in managing DRE and suggests its impact may relate to heightened parasympathetic nerve activity. Further research with extended follow-up periods is necessary to validate these findings.
这项随机对照试验旨在研究埋线针刺（TEA）与假 TEA 在治疗耐药性癫痫（DRE）方面的疗效。54 例 DRE 门诊患者随机分为两组：TEA（27 例）和假 TEA（27 例）。两组均接受 4 次 TEA 或假 TEA 治疗，间隔 4 周，以 GV20、GV14、BL15、BL18、ST40 和 GB34 穴位为靶点。整个研究过程中，抗癫痫药物的剂量保持一致。疗效评估指标包括满意的癫痫控制率、无癫痫发作率以及心率（HR）和心率变异性（HRV）测量值。与假 TEA 组相比，TEA 组在随访时的满意癫痫控制率显著更高（37% vs. 3.7%， = 0.003）。虽然在每个阶段，两组之间的 HR、HRV 和 HRV 成分均无显著差异，但 TEA 组在治疗后 HR 显著降低，HRV 显著增加。本研究证明了 TEA 在管理 DRE 方面的有效性，并提示其影响可能与副交感神经活性增强有关。需要进行更长随访期的进一步研究来验证这些发现。
