Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave along the meridians combined with acupuncture reinforcement-reduction manipulation in "five-shu points" in treatment of patients with blood stasis type of lumbar disk herniation.

Methods A total of 40 patients with lumbar disc herniation were randomly divided into control group and observation group, with 20 cases in each group. The control group was treated with extracorporeal shock wave, while the observation group was treated with extracorporeal shock wave along the meridians combined with acupuncture reinforcement-reduction manipulation in "five-shu points". Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score, Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, clinical efficacy, incidence of adverse reactions and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups.

Results The NRS scores of both groups decreased significantly after treatment, and the NRS score of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The JOA score of both groups after treatment was significantly increased than that before treatment (P < 0.05); after the second and third treatments, the JOA scores of the observation group were significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The apparent healing rate of the observation group was 85.00%, which was significantly higher than 50.00% of the control group (P < 0.05). The adverse reaction of both groups was severe pain, including 1 case in the control group and 2 cases in the observation group, and there was no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). No recurrence cases were found in both groups during follow-up.

Conclusion Extracorporeal shock wave along the meridians combined with acupuncture reinforcement-reduction manipulation in "five-shu points" can significantly alleviate the pain of patients with lumbar disc herniation and promote the recovery of lumbar function.