Enhancing Respiratory Symptoms: The Impact of Acupoint Application Combined with Back Tapping in Patients with Expectoration and Wheezing.

BACKGROUND

Expectoration and wheezing are prevalent symptoms of respiratory diseases. Acupoint application and back tapping have shown effectiveness in alleviating cough, wheezing, and associated symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the influence of combining acupoint application with back tapping in patients experiencing expectoration and wheezing.

DESIGN

A retrospective study design was employed.

SETTING

The study was conducted at Lujiang County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 96 patients presenting with expectoration and wheezing between January 2019 and June 2021 were randomly allocated into an observation group (n=48) and a control group (n=48).

INTERVENTIONS: The control group received an acupoint application using white mustard seed. In contrast, the observation group received additional back-tapping along meridians.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) Clinical efficacy; (2) traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scores; (3) levels of inflammatory factors; (4) blood gas analysis indexes; (5) pulmonary function indexes; and (6) quality of life was assessed.

RESULTS

Following treatment, the observation group exhibited superior clinical efficacy (P < .05), reduced traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores for cough, expectoration, and wheezing (P < .05), more pronounced improvements in inflammatory factor levels (P < .05), blood gas analysis indexes (P < .05), pulmonary function indexes (P < .05), and higher quality of life (P < .05) compared to the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Combining acupoint application with back tapping effectively alleviated symptoms and inflammatory responses, improved blood gas and pulmonary function, and enhanced the quality of life in patients experiencing expectoration and wheezing.