Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupoint PLGA thread embedding in treating simple obesity. Methods Ninety-six patients with simple obesity were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 48 cases each. The treatment group received acupoint PLGA thread embedding and the control group took metformin hydrochloride tablets. Body weight, waist circumference, abdominal circumference and related laboratory indices were measured in the two groups before treatment and at the end of treatment and the one-year follow-up. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 90.9% at the end of treatment and 77.3% at the one-year follow-up in the treatment group and 97.5% at the end of treatment and 37.5 at the one-year follow-up in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference in the total efficacy rate at the one-year follow-up between the two groups (P<0.01). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in TG between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in waist circumference, hip circumference, obesity degree, TG and LP at the one-year follow-up between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions at the one-year follow-up between the two groups (P<0.01). Conclusion Acupoint PLGA thread embedding is an effective way to treat simple obesity.