A Practical Randomized Controlled Study on Effectiveness of TCM Syndrome Differentiation Treatment for Subsolid Pulmonary Nodules

Objective  To explore the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on subsolid nodule (SSN).

Methods  A practical randomized controlled study method, including 254 SSN patients was adopted. The patients were divided into the TCM (102 cases) and follow-up (152 cases) groups. The follow-up group received regular check-ups in accordance with the guidelines, and the TCM group received TCM syndrome differentiation treatment for 24 weeks. The two groups were compared in terms of the changes in their SSN diameter, SSN number, TCM symptom score, and overall therapeutic effect before and after treatment. Adverse reactions and safety indicators were also recorded.

Results  The TCM group showed a significantly higher effective rate of treatment (16.7%) than the follow-up group (2.6%) (P<0.01). Compared with their condition before treatment, the TCM group showed no significant changes in their SSN diameter and number but presented considerably reduced fatigue, yellow and red urine symptoms, and overall TCM symptom score (P<0.05). The follow-up group exhibited significantly increased diameter and number of SSN (P<0.01). The follow-up group showed the significantly higher increase in SSN diameter after treatment than the TCM group (P<0.05). Moreover, the follow-up group showed significantly higher fatigue, depression, yellow and red urine symptom scores, and overall TCM symptom score than the TCM group (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

Conclusion  TCM treatment for SSN has a distinct clinical efficacy, reduces the malignant risk of SSN and improves clinical symptoms of SSN patients, and is safe and feasible.