Carthami-Semen acupuncture point injection for chronic daily headache: A pilot, randomised, double-blind, controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to examine the possibility of Carthami-Semen (CS, Safflower seed) acupuncture point injection as a new promising treatment for chronic daily headache (CDH).

METHODS: A total of 40 subjects with CDH were recruited and randomised to a CS acupuncture point injection group or a normal saline (NS) acupuncture point injection group. Acupuncture point injections were applied twice a week during 4 weeks to the bilateral Fengchi (GB20), Jianjing (GB21) and Taiyang (EX-HN5) acupoints with CS extract or NS.

OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was headache-related quality of life (QoL), assessed using the Headache Impact Test (HIT). Secondary outcome measures were the changes in the number of headache-free days and health status as assessed with the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36).

RESULTS: HIT scores decreased by 14.9 points in the CS acupuncture point injection group compared with 7.9 points in the NS acupuncture point injection group (p=0.013). Headache-free days increased by 32.6% in the CS acupuncture point injection group compared with 17.4% in the NS acupuncture point injection group (p=0.045). There were significant increases in SF-36 scores compared with baseline in both groups, but the mean improvement was greater in the CS acupuncture point injection group. No serious adverse events (AEs) were reported.

CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the CS acupuncture point injection could be a new safe and promising treatment for CDH. A larger and long-term follow-up trial is needed to determine more definitely the efficacy of CS acupuncture point injection and to elucidate how long the effect lasts.

Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PMID: 21195291