Wrist-ankle acupuncture with midnight-noon ebb-flow in postoperative rehabilitation of rotator cuff injury

ObjectiveTo explore the clinical effect of wrist-ankle acupuncture （WAA） with midnight-noon ebb-flow at selection time on postoperative pain and rehabilitation after rotator cuff injury repair. MethodsA total of 68 inpatients for rehabilitation at 4-6 weeks after rotator cuff repair in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine from January 2022 to June 2022 were selected. They were randomly divided into conventional WAA group （n=34, control group） and WAA at selection time group （n=32, observation group, excluding 2 cases）. In control group, WAA was conducted around 10:30 on the morning, taking the acupoints in upper 4 region （alone the large intestine meridian of hand-Yangming）, in upper 5 region （along the meridian of Hand-Shaoyang） and in upper 6 region （along meridian of Hand-Taiyang）, with 30 minutes for needle retention, once a day for 7 days. In observation group, WAA was performed at around 14:00 with the same acupoints and treatment duration as control group. The Visual Analogue Scale （VAS）, shoulder passive range of motion （ROM）, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index （PSQI） and University of California-Los Angeles （UCLA） Shoulder Scale were observed and compared between two groups before and after treatment . b>ResultsCompared with those before treatment, VAS and PSQI scores significantly decreased, and ROM and UCLA Shoulder Scale increased after treatment in both groups （P＜0.05）. In observation group, VAS score was lower than that in control group, and shoulder ROM and UCLA Shoulder Scale were significantly higher than those in control group （P＜0.05）. ConclusionWAA at selection time based on midnight-noon ebb-flow can effectively alleviate postoperative pain of rotator cuff injury, improve joint mobility and promote rapid recovery of shoulder joint function.