Objective: To explore the effect of acupotomy combined with warm acupuncture and moxibustion on the improvement of vertebral artery blood flow and cervical joint range of motion in the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR).Methods: 92 patients with CSR diagnosed and treated in the Pain Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 2023 to June 2024 were selected as the research objects. They were divided into two groups by random number table. 46 patients in the control group were treated by warming acupuncture and moxibustion regularly, and 46 patients in the observation group were assisted with acupotomy at the same time. After three courses of treatment (three weeks), the vertebral artery blood flow, cervical joint range of motion, TCM syndrome score, effective rate and adverse reactions of the two groups were compared.Results: After 3 weeks of treatment, both groups showed significant improvement in bilateral vertebral artery blood flow velocity and bilateral vertebral artery blood flow compared to before treatment. The observation group had higher bilateral vertebral artery blood flow velocity and bilateral vertebral artery blood flow (P <0.05). After 3 weeks of treatment, the cervical joint range of motion scores in both groups decreased significantly compared to before treatment, with the observation group scoring lower than the control group (P < 0.05). After 3 weeks of treatment, the TCM syndrome scores of both groups decreased significantly compared to before treatment (P <0.05), and the TCM syndrome scores of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). After 3 weeks of treatment, the effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups of patients (P > 0.05).Conclusion: The combined scheme of acupotomy and warm acupuncture and moxibustion has significantly improved the vertebral artery blood flow and the cervical joint range of motion in the treatment of CSR population, which is conducive to improving the therapeutic effect and ensuring the safety.

Acupotomy  /  Warming acupuncture and moxibustion  /  Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy  /  Vertebral artery blood flow  /  Cervical joint mobility