[Influence of different skin reactions of acupoint-application on clinical outcomes in the prevention and treatment of bronchial asthma].

Objective: To observe the influence of different skin reactions of acupoint-application in summer on outcomes of prevention and treatment of bronchial asthma.

Methods: All of the bronchial asthma patients were treated with acupoint-application therapy in the dog-days of summer, once every ten days, 3 times altogether. After the treatment, according to scores of the skin reactions including flush, itching, pain, vesicles, etc. induced by acupoint-application of prepared Chinese medical herb paste, 164 cases were divided into four groups: no reaction (n = 43), mild reaction (n = 42), moderate reaction (n = 39) and severe reaction (n = 40). One-year's follow-up was conducted after the treatment for assessing the asthma patients' cough-asthma score, wheezing rale score, and for recording the attack times.

Results: After the treatment, the cough-asthma scores, wheezing rale scores, and asthmatic attack times were obviously decreased in all the 4 groups compared to pre-treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Comparison among the 4 groups showed that the levels of the 3 indexes were significantly higher in the no reaction group and mild reaction group than in the moderate and severe reaction groups after the treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), suggesting a better therapeutic effect in patients undergoing moderate and severe skin reactions. There were no significant differences between the no reaction and mild reaction groups, and between the moderate reaction and severe reaction groups in the levels of the 3 indexes (P > 0. 05). The total effective rates of the no reaction, mild reaction, moderate reaction and severe reaction groups were 58.14%, 88.10%, 94.87% and 97.50%, respectively. The mild, moderate and severe reaction groups were better than the no reaction group in the therapeutic effect (P < 0.01). The mild reaction group was poorer than the moderate and severe reaction groups in clinical efficacy (P < 0.05). There was no marked difference between the moderate and severe reaction groups in clinical outcomes (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Acupoint-application in the dog-days can effectively improve the asthma patients' symptoms, and the therapeutic effect of patients experiencing moderate and severe skin reactions was better.