Analysis of VAS scores and headache intensity at different time phases of the immediate effect of acupuncture at specific points of the Shaoyang meridians for acute migraine attacks

OBJECTIVE: To observe the VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) scores and headache intensity at different time phases of the immediate effect of acupuncture at specific points of the Shaoyang meridians in the treatment of acute migraine attacks, to evaluate its clinical efficacy, and to establish localization standards for non-meridian non-acupoints, providing a basis for selecting the control group of the clinical observation in the "study on the basic laws of meridian-acupoint effect specificity and its biological information basis". METHODS: A randomized, controlled, single-blind design was used. Ninety migraine patients meeting the inclusion criteria were divided into treatment group A (Shaoyang meridian specific points group), control group B (non-meridian non-acupoint group 1) and control group C (non-meridian non-acupoint group 2), 30 cases per group, all treated with acupuncture for 30 minutes. VAS scores and headache intensity were recorded before treatment and 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 24 hours after treatment to assess the immediate efficacy. RESULTS: In the degree of VAS reduction, there was no statistically significant difference between groups A and B (P>0.05), while the difference versus group C was significant (P<0.01); for changes in headache intensity grade, there were no statistically significant differences among the three groups at 0.5 and 1 hour after treatment (P>0.05); at 2 and 4 hours after treatment, group A differed significantly from groups B and C (P<0.01), with no statistically significant difference between groups B and C (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at specific points of the Shaoyang meridians can effectively relieve acute migraine attacks, with immediate efficacy clearly superior to non-meridian non-acupoints; non-meridian non-acupoint group 2 is more comparable and should be used as the control group in studies of meridian-acupoint effect specificity; it is worth further promotion and application.