OBJECTIVETo assess the therapeutic effect of acupoint sticking therapy for prevention of acute attack of chronic hronchitis.

METHODSThe patients of chronic bronchitis at the remission stage were randomly grouped. The control group of 100 cases received common treatment including giving up smoking, proper exercise, and the observation group of 200 cases were treated with acupoint sticking therapy in the three hottest periods of the year with "Hongwai Zhike Plaster" at Dazhui (GV 14), Dingchuan (EX-B 1), Tiantu (CV 22), etc., beside the common treatment in the control group. The therapeutic effect for TCM syndromes and changes of immunoglobins (IgA, IgG and IgM) before and after treatment were observed, and acute attack times within one year were recorded and compared.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the score of TCM syndrome significantly decreased in the observation group (P < 0.05), with a significant difference as compared with the control group (P < 0.05); the total effective rate was 84.000 in the observation group, which was better than 55.0% in the control group (P < 0.01); after treatment, plasma IgA significantly increased and the acute attack times within one year reduced with significant difference as compared with that in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupoint sticking therapy in the three hottest periods of the year has better short-term and long-term therapeutic effects on chronic bronchitis, effectively improving immunological functions and preventing acute attack.