Efficacy of acupotomy in chronic pharyngitis: A retrospective analysis

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and complications of acupotomy in chronic pharyngitis. We reviewed the medical records of patients who received acupotomy for chronic pharyngitis in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department between January 2023 and December 2024, comparing symptom and sign scores before and after treatment. A reduction of ≥30% in symptom/sign scores after treatment was defined as effective. Treatment-related complications were also observed. One month after 3 sessions of treatment, scores for pharyngeal dryness (median difference [MD] = -0.58, 95% confidence interval [CI -0.76 to -0.40], P < .01), pharyngeal itching (MD = -3.06, 95% CI [-4.01 to -2.11], P < .01), pharyngeal pain (MD = -1.06, 95% CI [-1.28 to -0.84], P < .01), pharyngeal foreign-body sensation (MD = -2.39, 95% CI [-2.65 to -2.13], P < .01), pharyngeal adhesiveness (MD = -1.18, 95% CI [-1.41 to -0.95], P < .01) and cough (MD = -2.10, 95% CI [-2.38 to -1.82], P < .01) were significantly lower than before treatment. A month after the third session, scores for pharyngeal mucosal congestion (MD = -1.27, 95% CI [-1.48 to -1.06], P < .01), pharyngeal lymphoid follicular hyperplasia (MD = -1.07, 95% CI [-1.28 to -0.86], P < .01), pharyngeal mucosal hypertrophy and hyperplasia (MD = -0.54, 95% CI [-0.73 to -0.35], P < .05) and hypertrophy and swelling of the pharyngeal lateral cord (MD = -0.46, 95% CI [-0.64 to -0.28], P < .05) were also significantly reduced compared to before treatment. Acupotomy was associated with symptomatic improvement in this cohort. However, due to the study's limitations and small sample size, no definitive conclusions can be drawn. Well-designed prospective studies with larger samples, multicenter, controlled studies are needed to confirm efficacy and safety.