OBJECTIVETo observe therapeutic effect of electrical plum-blossom needle for treatment of juvenile myopia and biological effect on ocular tissue and structures.

METHODSOne hundred and sixty cases with mild myopia (diopter < 3.00D) were randomly divided into two groups, a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group were treated with electrical plum-blossom needle therapy, tapping Jingming (BL 1), Chengqi (ST 1), Taiyang (EX-HN 5) and Neiguan (PC 6), and the control group with Tropicamide eye drops. The changes of vision, diopter, corneal refractive power, ocular-axial length, lens and ciliaris thickness were observed before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 80.0% in the treatment group and 58.1% in the control group, with a very significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01); the two therapies could decrease the thickness of lens and ciliaris, and eliminate spasm of ciliary muscle, however the electrical plum-blossom needle therapy had more obvious action (P < 0.05); the two therapies had no effect on the corneal refractive power and ocular-axial length.

CONCLUSIONThe electrical plum-blossom needle therapy is an effective method for increasing vision, correcting ametropia and delaying development of myopia.