Abstract:

Objective To explore the auxiliary therapeutic effect of the acupuncture therapy of“Tongdu Tiaoshen”in the treatment of tuberculous meningitis（TBM）. Methods Fifty cases with TBM treated with anti⁃ tuberculous chemotherapy plus Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture were assigned into the observation group and another fifty cases with TBM treated only with anti⁃tuberculous chemotherapy into control group. The two groups were com⁃ pared in terms of the scores of Traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）syndromes，limb function by FMA，neural function by NIHSS，coma degree by GCS，and the levels of nerve growth factor（NGF），white blood cell count （WBC），protein，glucose and chloride of their cerebrospinal fluid. The therapeutic effect was classified as cure， obvious effect，effectiveness and ineffectiveness. Results The rates of cure，obvious effect，effectiveness and ineffectiveness in the observation group were 22%，36%，32% and 10%，respectively，while the rates in the con⁃ trol group were 10%，20%，56% and 14% respectively. There was significant difference between the group（90% vs. 86%，χ2 = 8.142，P = 0.043）.Before the treatment，there were no significant differences in the scores of TCM， FMA，NIHSS and GCS between the two groups（P > 0.05）. but the differences in the scores were significant in each group between pre⁃treatment and post⁃treatment as well as between the two group after the treatment（P < 0.05）. The CSF cell count in the control group was significantly higher than that in the observation group before the treat⁃ ment（P = 0.004），but the counts of the two group showed no significant difference after the treatment（P = 0.593）. There were no significant differences in CSF pressure，NGF，protein，glucose and chloride between the two groups before the treatment（P > 0.05），while the levels of NGF and chloride in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group（P < 0.05）after the treatment. There were significant differences in the levels of cerebrospinal fluids between the two groups both before the treatment and after the treatment（P < 0.05）. Conclusion Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture has an auxiliary therapeutic effect on tuberculous meningitis，possiblydue to its promoting the recovery of nervous system function by improving the biochemical composition of cerebro⁃ spinal fluid. 

Key words:

tuberculous meningitis, Tongdu Tiaoshen acupuncture, anti?tuberculous chemotherapy