Clinical observation of acupuncture bloodletting at Ashi points on local swelling and pain after snakebite

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture bloodletting therapy on local swelling and pain of snakebite in the patients bitten by snakes. Methods A total of 106 patients with trimeresurus stejnegeri bite were randomly divided into two groups, a conventional treatment group and a conventional treatment combined with bloodletting therapy group, 53 cases in each one. In the conventional treatment group, the convention treatment of western medicine was adopted. In the conventional treatment combined with bloodletting therapy group, on the base of the conventional treatment, bloodletting therapy was applied at Ashi points selected at the tender points around the wound. The intervention and observation were performed not less than 7 days in two groups. Before and after treatment, swelling and pain degrees were measured and remission time of both the limb swelling and pain were recorded in the patients. Results Compared with the values on day 1 of treatment, swelling degree and visual analogue scale (VAS) score of the upper and lower limbs were all lower on day 3 and day 7 of treatment in the patients of the two groups (all P Conclusion Acupuncture bloodletting therapy can effectively relieve the local swelling and pain caused by snakebite, promote the recovery of limb function, shorten the treatment course and improve the clinical therapeutic effect.