ObjectiveTo explore the clinical effect of acupoint catgut embedding combined with Guixiang Wenjing Zhitong Capsules for the treatment of endometriosis (EMT). MethodsA total of 99 EMT patients were randomly divided into observation group (n=52) or control group (n=47). Patients in both groups were orally administrated Guixiang Wenjing Zhitong Capsules; simultaneously, the observation group received acupoint catgut embedding for treatment. Both groups received treatment for 3 menstrual cycles. The pre- and post-treatment Visual Analogue Scale score for abdominal pain during menstruation, serum immune factors (complement C3, IgA, IgG, IgM, and anti-endometrial antibody ［EMAb］) levels, serum inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor α ［TNF-α］, metalloproteinase 9 ［MMP9］, vascular endothelial growth factor ［VEGF］, and carbohydrate antigen 125 ［CA125］) levels, sex hormones (follicle-stimulating hormone ［FSH］, luteinizing hormone ［LH］, and estradiol) levels, and hemorheological indices (whole blood high shear viscosity, whole blood low shear viscosity, whole blood reduced viscosity, and plasma specific viscosity) were compared between patients of the two groups. The post-treatment clinical efficacy was evaluated in both groups, and the occurrence of adverse reactions during treatment was observed in patients of the two groups. ResultsAfter treatment, the VAS score for abdominal pain during menstruation was lower than that before treatment, and the observation group exhibited a lower VAS score for abdominal pain during menstruation as compared with the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment, both groups yielded decreased levels of serum complement C3, IgA, IgG, IgM, EMAb, TNF-α, MMP9, VEGF, CA125, FSH, LH, and estradiol, as well as decreased whole blood high shear viscosity, whole blood low shear viscosity, whole blood reduced viscosity, and plasma specific viscosity as compared with before treatment (P＜0.05); in addition, the observation group interpreted lower levels of indices as above as compared with the control group (P＜0.05). The total effective rate of treatment in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (92.54% vs. 77.05%, P＜0.05), furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence late of adverse reactions between the two groups (P＞0.05). ConclusionAcupoint catgut embedding combined with Guixiang Wenjing Zhitong Capsules can alleviate patients′ abdominal pain during menstruation through relieving immune and inflammatory responses, and ameliorating sex hormones levels and hemorheological indices, exerting superior therapeutic effect to simple Guixiang Wenjing Zhitong Capsules therapy and less adverse reactions, and it is worthy of clinical application.

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