Clinical study on moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) for chronic urticaria

Objective: To observe the safety and efficacy of moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) for chronic urticaria. Methods: A total of 80 cases who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into a treatment group and a control group, 40 in each. Cases in the treatment group were treated with thunder-fire moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8), whereas cases in the control group were treated with Mizolastine. Changes in clinical symptoms such as itching and skin lesion were observed before and after treatment and the therapeutic efficacies were assessed. Results: After treatment, the total scores of clinical symptoms in both groups were markedly reduced (P<0.05), and the reduction was more significant in the treatment group than that in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate in the treatment group was 77.5%, versus 65.0% in the control group, showing no significant difference (P>0.05). The Ridit analysis showed a between-group significant difference in therapeutic efficacy grades (P<0.05). There were no reports of adverse reactions in the treatment group and 2 cases experienced mild somnolence in the control group. Conclusion: With an exact effect for chronic urticaria, moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) obtained better results in overall efficacy and improving symptoms than oral administration of Mizolastine. © 2013 Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.