Objective: To study the effect of acupuncture on clinical symptom score, blood pressure (BP), ABI and baPWV index in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. Methods: The single-blind Randomized controlled trial included 90 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension who were randomly divided into two acupuncture groups and a control group. The control group was treated with Western medicine, while the experimental group was treated with medicine and acupuncture at different acupoints, Acupuncture Group Ⅰ and Acupuncture Group Ⅱ. The treatment lasted for 12 weeks and the indexes were collected before and after treatment. The primary outcome measure was changes in blood pressure. The secondary outcome measures were ABI, baPWV and TCM symptom score. The safety evaluation index was the incidence of adverse events. Results: Acupuncture Group Ⅰ, Acupuncture Group Ⅱ and Control group all had 30 patients finished the study. The results showed that there were significant differences in blood pressure, ABI, baPWV index and TCM symptom score in the group compared with before intervention (P < 0.05). Acupuncture Group Ⅰ is superior to Acupuncture Group Ⅱ in improving systolic blood pressure, baPWV level, TCM symptom score and total effective rate. There are significant differences between the two groups and control group in various indexes, and the above differences are statistically significant (P<0.05). No significant complications occurred in the acupuncture group, no patient dropped out. Conclusions: The results show that acupuncture can effectively reduce blood pressure, improve clinical symptoms, and improve the level of arteriosclerosis index with high safety. More effective acupuncture points have been explored.

BackgroundPatients often experience postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) because of the use of opioids for anaesthesia and analgesia during the procedure. Some clinical trials have demonstrated that acupuncture-assisted anaesthesia (AAA) reduces opioid consumption and prevents PONV. Although several studies have been conducted on AAA, its safety and efficacy in AF catheter ablation remain unclear due to small sample sizes and a paucity of methodologically rigorous designs. Therefore, this trial was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of AAA in reducing PONV and morphine hydrochloride consumption during catheter ablation.MethodsThis single-centre, patient-blinded, randomised, non-penetrating sham-controlled trial will be conducted in China. A total of 100 patients will be randomly assigned to the AAA and conventional anaesthesia (CA) groups in a ratio of 1:1. The patients will receive AAA or CA plus sham acupuncture during catheter ablation and will be followed up for 30 days. The primary outcomes include the total amount of morphine hydrochloride consumed during catheter ablation and PONV within the first 24 hours after the procedure. The secondary outcomes include pain, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, patient’s ability to cope during catheter ablation, AF recurrence and quality of life, as assessed using the numeric rating scale. Adverse events will be recorded and their influence will be analysed at the end of the trial.DiscussionThis study will help in evaluating the safety and efficacy of AAA applied for AF catheter ablation in reducing opioid doses during the procedure and the occurrence of PONV.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The results of the study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences if possible.Trial registration numberChiCTR 2100042646; Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.