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Objective: To observe the clinical effect of electroacupuncture combined with diclofenac sodium in the treatment of acute gouty arthritis.
Methods: Patients with acute gouty arthritis were randomly divided into three groups: the electroacupuncture + diclofenac sodium treatment group (i.e., electroacupuncture + diclofenac sodium group), the low-dose diclofenac sodium treatment group (i.e., low-dose diclofenac sodium group), and the conventional-dose diclofenac sodium treatment group (i. e., conventional diclofenac sodium group). Patients in the low-dose diclofenac sodium group took 50 mg of diclofenac sodium sustained-release capsules once a day. Patients in the conventional diclofenac sodium group took 100 mg of diclofenac sodium sustained-release capsules once a day.
Patients in the electroacupuncture + diclofenac sodium group were treated with electroacupuncture three times in 7 days combined with 50 mg of diclofenac sodium sustained-release capsules once a day. For all the three groups, 7 days were regarded as a course of treatment. Outcome indicators included pain visual analog scale (VAS), joint tenderness, joint swelling and activity limitation, and levels of inflammatory indicators (C-reactive protein (CRP)/white blood cells (WBC)/percentage of neutrophils (NE%)), level of serum uric acid (SUA), gout impact scale (GIS), and frequency of adverse reactions).
Results: After a course of treatment, indicators regarding the VAS, joint tenderness, joint swelling, activity limitation, GIS, inflammatory indicators (CRP/WBC/NE%), and SUA were all improved (P < 0.05) with no adverse reactions in the electroacupuncture + diclofenac sodium group. The electroacupuncture + DS group performed better than the low-dose diclofenac sodium group in improving indicators regarding the VAS, joint tenderness, activity limitation, GIS, inflammatory markers (WBC/NE%), and SUA (P < 0.05). Similarly, the electroacupuncture + diclofenac sodium group performed better than the conventional DS group in improving indicators regarding GIS, SUA, and adverse reactions (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: electroacupuncture combined with diclofenac sodium can improve acute gouty arthritis patients’ joint pain and functional status, thus improving their quality of life. Moreover, this combined treatment can reduce the levels of inflammatory markers and SUA, leading to fewer adverse reactions in acute gouty arthritis patients.
Reference: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36072410/