Objective To confirm the better analgesic effect of subcutaneous penetration needling of otopoints for treatment of scapulohumeral periarthritis(SHPA) patients.Methods Sixty-six SHPA patients were randomized into penetration-needling group(n=33) and straight needling group(n=33) by using pairing principle according to the sex and state of disease.Penetration needling was adopted for patients of penetration-needling group

while straight needling was used for those of straight needling group.Simplified McGill Scale was used to evaluate the patients' pain reactions.The pain integral scores were analyzed by using sequential test and pairing t test.Results Sequential test showed that the analgesic effect of penetration needling was significantly superior to that of straight needling 30 min after the treatment(P<0.05).Pairing t test results displayed that penetration needling had a marked analgesic effect 5 min and 30 min after the treatment compared with straight needling(P<0.05).Conclusion The rapid analgesic effect of penetration needling is superior to that of straight needling in the treatment of scapulohumeral periarthritis.