[Clinical observation of acute pancreatitis treated with acupoint application combined with medicine].

OBJECTIVE: To explore a better therapeutic method for acute pancreatitis. METHODS: Sixty-three cases of acute pancreatitis were randomly divided into an observation group (31 cases) and a control group (32 cases). In the control group, routine treatment of western medicine included fasting, gastric acid and trypsinase secretion inhibition were applied, while acupoint application was added in the observation group. Yishu (Extra), Zhongwan (CV 12), Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST 36) and Pishu (BL 20) were selected as the main acupoints. The magnetic plaster was applied to the acupoints mentioned and changed once per day. Seven days made one session. RESULTS: The cured rate in the observation group was 90.3% (28/31), which was significantly higher than that of 71.9%, (23/32) in the control group (P < 0.05). The recovery time of hyper-serum amylase, hyper-uric amylase and hyper-leukocytes in the observation group was significantly shorter than that in the control group [(3.5 +/- 0.9) days vs (5.9 +/- 0.8) days, (6.1 +/- 1.5) days vs (10.5 +/- 1.8) days, (6.8 +/- 1.4) days vs (9.7 +/- 1.6) days, all P < 0.05]. The hospital stays and expenses in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group [(7.9 +/- 0.9) days vs (11.7 +/- 1.4) days, (5.3 +/- 1.1) thousand RMB vs (8.9 +/- 1.5) thousand RMB, both P < 0.05]. CONCLUSION: Acupoint application combined with routine treatment of western medicine is effective and can be considered as a better therapy for acute pancreatitis.