The Correlation Between The Treatment Time and Efficacy of Suspended Moxibustion on The Guanyuan Point for The Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea

摘要

Primary dysmenorrhea refers to lower abdominal pain, mild lumbago and discomfort in the lower abdomen during or before the menstrual period. Moxibustion has shown efficacy in the treatment of dysmenorrhea by removing blood stasis and relieving pain. The objective of the current study was to compare the efficacies of different treatment times of suspended moxibustion on the Guanyuan point for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea of the cold and damp stagnation type to seek the best length of moxibustion treatment. In this study, one hundred and twenty subjects were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into treatment groups (n = 30 per group): group 1 had suspended moxibustion for 15 min, group 2 had suspended moxibustion for 30 min, group 3 had suspended moxibustion for 60 min and group 4 had suspended moxibustion for 90 min. The simplified McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and the COX Menstrual Symptom Scale (CMSS) were used to record results from subjects. Data were analyzed via single factor analysis of variance and the differences between the groups were compared. With regards to the symptom score, significant differences were noted between groups 1, 2 and 3 (P<0.01), with a treatment time of 60 min resulting in improved symptoms, while there were no significant differences between groups 3 and 4. The results are as follows: suspended moxibustion on the Guanyuan point for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea resulted in remarkable improvement of symptoms. The moxibustion treatment time was an important factor that affected the efficacy. A treatment time of 60 min was found to be the optimum length of moxibustion, while more than 60 min did not further improve symptoms.