A Retrospective Clinical Comparative Study of Acupuncture Combined with Huolong Cupping Therapy for Low Back Pain of Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis Pattern

Abstract

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with Huolong cupping therapy in alleviating pain in patients with degenerative lumbar diseases presenting a Qi stagnation and blood stasis pattern, so as to provide evidence for optimizing conservative treatment regimens in clinical practice. Methods: A total of 116 inpatients diagnosed with degenerative lumbar diseases of Qi stagnation and blood stasis pattern admitted to the Acupuncture Department of our hospital from January 2024 to January 2026 were retrospectively enrolled. According to different rehabilitation interventions, the patients were divided into the control group (40 cases, treated with acupuncture alone) and the observation group (76 cases, treated with acupuncture plus Huolong cupping therapy). Both groups received 10 treatment sessions as one therapeutic course. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was adopted to evaluate the degree of low back pain at 1 day before treatment, as well as on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th day after treatment. An independent-samples t-test was used for comparison of measurement data, and a chi-square test was applied for enumeration data. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in baseline data, including age, gender, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI), between the two groups (p > 0.05), indicating comparability. No significant difference in VAS scores was observed between the two groups 1 day before treatment (p = 0.087). On the 3rd day after treatment, the VAS scores of both groups increased compared with the baseline, with no significant inter-group difference (p = 0.494). Starting from the 6th day after treatment, the VAS score of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (4.24 ± 0.09 vs. 4.58 ± 0.13, p = 0.036). On the 9th day (1.95 ± 0.07 vs. 2.85 ± 0.14, p < 0.0001) and the 11th day (0.64 ± 0.09 vs. 1.85 ± 0.16, p < 0.0001), the VAS scores of the observation group remained markedly lower than those of the control group. Conclusion: Acupuncture combined with Huolong cupping therapy can significantly relieve low back pain from the middle stage (the 6th day of treatment) in patients with degenerative lumbar diseases of Qi stagnation and blood stasis pattern. The pain degree nearly reaches the pain-free level on the 11th day of treatment, and the overall efficacy is superior to acupuncture monotherapy. This combined therapy is safe and worthy of clinical promotion in acupuncture departments.