Intervention of the Syndrome-Position Point Selection Method on Idiopathic Tinnitus of Phlegm-Fire Stagnation Pattern: A Randomized Controlled Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of the syndrome-position point selection method on the intervention of idiopathic tinnitus of the phlegm-fire stagnation pattern. METHODS: One hundred patients with idiopathic tinnitus of phlegm-fire stagnation pattern who met the inclusion criteria were randomized into the treatment group and the control group by the random number table method, with 50 cases in each group. The treatment group (syndrome-position point selection method) was treated with acupuncture at the corresponding acupoints for tinnitus and associated symptoms and the corresponding acupoints located in Wernicke's area of scalp projection, while the control group (traditional acupuncture method) was treated with the combination of acupuncture points with the most frequent occurrence in the tinnitus research literature for acupuncture treatment. Both groups received acupuncture twice a week for 5 weeks. The efficacy was evaluated before and after treatment with the Tinnitus Severity Inventory (TSI), Sleep Spiegel Questionnaire, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). RESULTS: The 100 patients with idiopathic tinnitus of phlegm-fire stagnation pattern completed 5 weeks of clinical treatment and a month of follow-up with no loss of patients and no adverse event reports. Three patients recovered with the disappearance of the tinnitus symptoms in the treatment group after 5 weeks of treatment. After 5 weeks of treatment, obvious differences between the two groups were observed in the TSI scores (P < 0.05) and the Spiegel scores, with a better Spiegel score in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the depression (SDS score) and anxiety (SAS score) of tinnitus patients in the treatment group were markedly improved (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In line with the principle of symptomatic treatment and based on the modern imaging data, the syndrome-position point selection method is more accurate and effective compared with the traditional acupoint selection method, which significantly improves the symptoms, sleep quality, and psychological state of patients with idiopathic tinnitus of the phlegm-fire stagnation pattern.