Study on the Intervention of Acupuncture and Moxibustion on Deficiency of Spleen and Kidney in Children with Idiopathic Short Stature Based on Fuyang Theory

  OBJECTIVE  To explore the clinical effect of acupuncture and moxibustion combined with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) on children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) of spleen kidney deficiency type under the guidance of strengthening yang theory.

  METHODS  240 children with spleen kidney deficiency type ISS who were treated at Jiangyin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from October 2018 to December 2021 were randomly divided into a control group and a treatment group of 120 cases each. The control group was treated with routine education combined with rhGH, and the treatment group received acupuncture and moxibustion intervention on the basis of the treatment of the control group. The course of treatment for both groups was 12 months. Observe the TCM syndrome score and comprehensive efficacy of the two groups of pediatric patients before and after treatment; evaluate the growth at different age stages, i.e., height, height growth velocity (GV); detect the expression levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), auxin; and observe the occurrence of adverse reactions.

  RESULTS  After treatment, the TCM syndrome score of the treatment group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05), with a total effective rate of 95.83% in the treatment group and 87.50% in the control group (P < 0.05); the height, and GV of the two groups of pediatric patients at different age stages were higher than before treatment(P < 0.01), and the treatment group was significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.01); the levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in the treatment group were higher than those in the control group(P < 0.05), while the levels of Ghrelin were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups of pediatric patients during the treatment period (P > 0.05).

  CONCLUSION  The combination of acupuncture and moxibustion and rhGH under the guidance of strengthening yang theory can significantly improve the clinical symptoms of children with ISS, effectively promote the growth and development, regulate the levels of insulin-like growth factor and auxin, with high safety.