[Acupoint thread-embedding as adjuvant therapy for bronchial asthma in children and its effect on pulmonary function, serum IgA and IgE levels].

Objective: To observe the efficacy of acupoint thread-embedding combined with fluticasone propionate aerosol for chronic persistent bronchial asthma of lung-spleen deficiency and spleen-kidney deficiency in children and its effect on pulmonary function and serum levels of IgA and IgE.

Methods: A total of 120 children with chronic persistent bronchial asthma were randomly divided into an observation group (60 cases, 9 cases dropped off) and a control group (60 cases, 7 cases dropped off). The control group was treated with fluticasone propionate aerosol (125 μg per inhalation), twice a day; based on the control group treatment, the observation group was treated with acupoint thread-embedding at Dingchuan (EX-B 1), Feishu (BL 13), Zusanli (ST 36) and Danzhong (CV 17), once half a month. Both groups were treated for 3 months. The pulmonary function, serum IgA, IgE levels and TCM symptom score were compared between the two groups before and after treatment, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated.

Results: After treatment, the large airway function (peak expiratory flow [PEF], forced expiratory volume at the first second [FEV1]) and small airway function (maximal expiratory flow at 25% of the forced capacity [MEF25%], maximal expiratory flow at 50% of the forced capacity [MEF50%], maximal expiratory flow at 75% of the forced capacity [MEF75%] and midexpiratory flow 25%-75% [MEF25%-75%]) were higher than those before treatment (<0.05), and the pulmonary function in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (<0.05). After treatment, the serum IgA levels in the two groups were higher than those before treatment (<0.05), and the serum IgE levels and TCM symptom scores were lower than those before treatment (<0.05); the serum IgA level in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (<0.05), and the serum IgE level and TCM symptom score in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (<0.05). The total effective rate was 94.1% (48/51) in the observation group, which was higher than 88.7% (47/53) in the control group (<0.05).

Conclusion: Acupoint thread-embedding combined with fluticasone propionate aerosol could improve the pulmonary function, TCM symptoms and serum IgA and IgE levels in children with chronic persistent bronchial asthma of lung-spleen deficiency and spleen-kidney deficiency. The curative effect is better than fluticasone propionate aerosol alone.