Objective To compare the clinical efficacy of abdominal acupuncture combined with basic acupuncture and western medicine in treating herpes zoster

and to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of herpes zoster with acupuncture. Methods A total of 90 patients with thoracic herpes zoster who visited the Department of Pain Rehabilitation of the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from January 2017 to June 2019 were selected as the study subjects and assigned to the acupuncture group and western medicine group following the principle of a double-blind randomized controlled trial

with 45 cases in each group. Patients in the acupuncture group received abdominal acupuncture combined with basic acupuncture

and patients in the western medicine group received valacyclovir

pregabalin

and mecobalamin capsules. Subjects in both groups underwent treatment for 4 weeks. The clinical efficacy

time to subsidence of skin lesions

visual analogue scale（VAS） score before and after treatment

the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia（PHN）

and adverse reactions during treatment were compared between the two groups. Results The efficacy in the acupuncture group was greater than that of the western medicine group

and the difference was statistically significant（Z=-2.190

P=0.029）. There was no significant difference in VAS scores before treatment between the two groups（P>0.05）. The VAS scores at 1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

and 4 weeks after treatment in the two groups were lower than those before treatment

and the VAS score at the same time point after treatment in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the western medicine group

and the differences were statistically significant（P <0.05）. The incidence of adverse reactions in the acupuncture group was 8.89%（4/45）

which was lower than 46.67%（21/45） in the western medicine group

and the difference was statistically significant（χ~2= 16.006

P<0.05）. The incidence of PHN in the acupuncture group was 2.22%（1/45）

which was significantly lower than that in the western medicine group（15.56%

7/45）

but the difference was not statistically significant（χ~2=1.235

P=0.266）. Conclusion Abdominal acupuncture in combination with basic acupuncture is greater than that of western medicine alone in the treatment of herpes zoster and helps to accelerate the regression of skin lesions

relieve pain

and reduce the risk of PHN and adverse reactions.