Abstract:
Objective
To observe the clinical effects of fire needle target red hot needling on the treatment of morning stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis（RA）.
Methods
According to the 2009 American rheumatism association and the european league against rheumatism jointly launched the latest RA classification criteria，63 patients with RA morning stiffness were collected in department of acupuncture，haian county hospital of traditional Chinese medicine，Jiangsu province from January 2012 to December 2015.Patients were divided into fire needle group （n=32）and control group （n=31）.The fire needle group was given fire needle target red hot needling treatment，and the control group was given normal acupuncture treatment.Data of duration of morning stiffness，grip strength，joint pain，tenderness，swelling and dysfunction index（index for all joint score）and levels of rheumatoid factor（RF），erythrocyte sedimentation rate（ESR），c-reactive protein （CRP）were detected and compared between two groups.χ2 test was used to compare the therapeutic effects between the two groups.
Results
（1）The clinical efficacy：there were 3 cases showing short term control for RA morning stiffness，10 cases markedly effective，15 cases effective and 4 cases invalid in fire needle group.The total efficiency rate was 87.5% （28/32）.There was 1 case showing short term control for RA morning stiffness，5 cases markedly effective，12 cases effective and 13 cases ineffective in control group.The total effective rate was 58.06% （18/31）.The total effective rate was significantly higher in fire needle group than that of control group （z=-4.8873，P＜0.05）.（2）Clinical symptoms：the duration of morning stiffness，average grip strength of both ，joint pain index，joint tenderness index，joint swelling index and joint dysfunction index（0.82 ±0.71 h，7.21 ±1.31 kPa，8.97 ±4.78%，8.11 ±4.20%，7.57 ±3.81% and 2.37 ±2.01% ）were significantly decreased after treatment in fire needle group than those in control group （t=2.03，2.53，7.47，1.87，2.15 and 2.19，P＜0.05）.The result indicated that fire needle target red hot needling method was better than that of the ordinary acupuncture method on the improvement of clinical symptoms of RA.（3）Values of ESR，CRPand RF were significantly decreased after treatment in fire needle group （t=3.42，2.73 and 2.05，P＜0.05）.Values of ESR，CRP and RF were significantly decreased after treatment in fire needle group （t=1.13，3.65 and 1.41，P＜0.05）.Levels of ESR and RF were significantly decreased after treatment in fire needle group than those in control group （t=3.65 and 1.9，P＜0.05），which showed that both needle target red hot needling method and common acupuncture can reduce ESR，CRPand RF levels of RA，but fire needle targets red hot needling method was better than that of ordinary acupuncture.
Conclusion
Using fire needle target red hot thorn method in the treatment of RA morning stiffness symptoms has better clinical efficacy，which can significantly reduce the duration of morning stiffness，improve the clinical symptoms，and is worthy of promotion and using.
Key words:
Arthritis，rheumatoid,
Fire-needle therapy,
Morning stiffness
Xiaoping Ma. The curative effects of fire needle target red hot needling method on the treatment of morning stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis[J]. Chinese Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion(Electronic Edition), 2017, 06(02): 55-59.