Effect of tuina manipulations on blood pressure and its variability in hypertension patients

Objective: To observe the effect of tuina manipulations on blood pressure and its variability in hypertension patients. Methods: Forty hypertension patients were randomized into an observation group and a medication group, 20 cases in each group. The observation group was intervened by tuina manipulations of kidney-tonifying blood-circulating and collateralsunblocking in addition to regular medication, while the medication group was by the same medication. The 24-hour blood pressure monitoring was performed before intervention and after 3-month intervention. The blood pressure and its variability were observed and compared. Results: There were no significant differences in comparing the blood pressure and blood pressure variability between the two groups before intervention (P>0.05); after 3-month intervention, the blood pressure and its variability were significantly improved in both groups (P<0.05); the improvements in the observation group were more significant than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Tuina manipulations of kidney-tonifying blood-circulating and collaterals-unblocking plus medication can produce a better effect than regular medication in promoting blood pressure and its variability, and this method is worth applying in clinic as it’s easy-to-operate and has no adverse effect. © 2015, Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.