Observation of clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with bloodletting therapy and Qingwen Xiere decoction in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients

To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with bloodletting therapy and Qingwen Xiere decoction in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients.

A total of 100 mild to moderate COVID-19 patients collected from December 2022 to February 2023 were randomly divided into control and observation groups, with 50 patients in each group. Patients in the control group received oral Qingwen Xiere decoction for 6 days. The observation group received acupuncture combined with bloodletting therapy in addition to oral Qingwen Xiere decoction, with the acupuncture (at Kongzui [LU6], Hegu [LI4], Quchi [LI11], Feishu [BL13], Zhongwan [CV12], Qihai [CV6], Yinlingquan [SP9]) administered 30 min each day for 6 days, and bloodletting (at Shaoshang [LU11], Shangyang [LI1], Dazhui [GV14]) administered every other day for 3 times. Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores and pulmonary CT scores were recorded before and after treatment. Serum contents of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α) were measured using ELISA. Anxiety and depression degree were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA). Safety of the treatments was evaluated in both groups.

Compared with before treatment, after treatment, the control group showed improvement in fever, dry cough, sore throat, and total traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores (P<0.01), but no significant improvement in muscle pain or fatigue; the observation group showed significant improvement in total traditional Chinese medicine syndrome and individual symptoms scores (P<0.01); both groups demonstrated reductions in pulmonary CT scores, HAMA score, HAMD score and serum contents of CRP and IL-6 (P<0.01); serum TNF- α content significantly decreased in the observation group (P<0.01). All outcome measures were superior in the observation group to the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). No adverse reactions were reported in either group.

Acupuncture combined with bloodletting therapy and oral Qingwen Xiere decoction effectively improves clinical symptoms, alleviates pulmonary inflammatory injury, reduces inflammatory cytokine contents, and mitigates anxiety and depression in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients, and without adverse effects.