Acupuncture with lung-large intestine theory improves asthma exacerbation outcomes versus conventional therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture based on the theory of "exterior-interior relationship between lung and large intestine" on acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma on the basis of the conventional western medicine therapy. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma were randomly divided into an observation group (24 cases, 2 cases were eliminated) and a control group (24 cases, 1 case was eliminated). The control group was treated with conventional western medicine therapy. Based on the treatment of the control group ,the patients in the observation group were treated with acupuncture based on the theory of "exterior-interior relationship between lung and large intestine", bilateral Feishu (BL13), Dachangshu (BL25) and Dingchuan (EX-B1) were selected, 20 min each session，once every other day, 3 times a week for 14 days. Before and after treatment, the peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), asthma control questionnaire 5 (ACQ5) score and TCM symptom score were observed in the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, the PEF, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC in the two groups were increased compared with those before treatment (<0.01, <0.05)，the ACQ5 scores and TCM symptom scores were decreased compared with those before treatment (<0.01); the changes of PEF, ACQ5 score and TCM symptom score in the observation group were larger than those in the control group (<0.05, <0.01). CONCLUSION: On the basis of the conventional western medicine therapy, acupuncture based on the theory of "exterior-interior relationship between lung and large intestine" could improve pulmonary function and alleviate clinical symptoms in patients with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma.