Objective: To observe the clinical short-term curative effect and the mechanism of Tongbi Zhitong decotion combined with acupuncture in patients with sciatica of nerve root. Method: One hundred and twenty patients were randomly divided into control group and observation group of 60 patients each. Patients in control group received acupuncture treatment alone. Patients in observation group received differentiated treatment of Tongbi Zhitong decotion combined with acupuncture. All patients received two 10 days periods of treatment separated by 2 days without treatment. Pain degree on visual analog scale (VAS)

Oswestry disability index and Japanese orthopaedic association (JOA) score were evaluated before and after treatment. Levels of β-endorphin(β-EP)

interleukin-1 (IL-1)

interleukin-1 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected. Result: The total clinical effective rate in observation group was 95%

superior to 81.6% in control group (P<0.05). The VAS scores in both groups exhibited a declining tendency at 3

10 and 22 day after the treatment(P<0.01). The VAS scores in observation group were lower than that in control group at 10

22 day after the treatment (P<0.01). The oswestry dysfunction index in observation group was worse than that data in control group

while JOA scores in observation group were superior to that in control group (P<0.01). The level of β-EP in observation group was higher (P<0.01)

while the levels of IL-1

IL-6 and TNF-α were lower in observation group than that in control group (P<0.01). Conclusion: Compared with the treatment using acupuncture alone

acupuncture combined with medicine therapy has significant improvements in pain relieving

functional statue and clinical effective rate for patients with sciatica of nerve root. Its mechanisms may be achieved by raising β-EP level and reducing inflammatory reaction.