Objective To observe the clinical effect of acupotomy combined with warm needling on cervical spondylotic radiculopathy(CSR) of qi and blood stagnation syndrome. Methods A total of 90 CSR patients were randomly divided into an acupotomy group

a warm needling group and a combined treatment group

with 30 cases in each group. The patients in the acupotomy group were treated with acupotomy

once every 7 days

consecutively for 3 times. The patients in the warm needling group received warm needling

once daily

at the interval of 2 days after consecutive treatments for 5 days

7 days as one session of treatment and 3 consecutive sessions were required. The patients in the combined treatment group were treated with acupotomy and warm needling

and the methods and the treatment session were same as the the previous two groups. Before and after the treatment

the pain rating index(PRI) of McGill pain questionnaire(MPQ) and the 20-point scale of CSR developed by Yasuhisa Tanaka(CSR20) were adopted in the assessment. The changes of clinical symptoms and functions of patients were observed and the clinical efficacy was assessed in each group. Results After the treatment

the PRI score was decreased(P<0.05) and the CSR20 score was increased(P<0.05) in the 3 treatment groups when compared with those before the treatment. After the treatment

compared with the acupotomy group and the warm needling group

the PRI score was decreased(P<0.05) and the CSR20 score was increased(P<0.05) in the combined treatment group. The total effective rate was 83.3%(25/30) in the acupotomy group

76.7%(23/30) in the warm needling group and 93.3%(28/30) in the combined treatment group. The total effective rate in the combined treatment group was higher than those in the acupotomy group and the warm needling group(P<0.05). Conclusion The combined treatment with acupotomy and warm needling may obviously improve the clinical symptoms and physical signs

e.g. pain and numbness in the patients with CSR of qi and blood stagnation syndrome. Its efficacy is remarkably higher than that of the simple application of acupotomy or warm needling.