Objective To compare the differences of therapeutic effect of chronic fatigue syndrome （CFS） treated with the combined therapy of Panlongci （coiling dragon needling） and cupping on back and the western medicine therapy with prednisone. Methods Seventy-two cases were randomly divided into 2 groups of acupuncture-cupping group （37 cases） and prednisone group （35 cases）. In acupuncture-cupping group, Jiaji points （夹脊 EX-B 2） of the level of T1–L5 were applied with coiling dragon needling once a day, combining with moving cupping on back once every two days. In prednisone group, prednisone tablets of 10 mg were orally taken at 8：00 am everyday. Seven days were counted as one treatment course, and 2 courses were carried on totally. FS-14 scale and BELL’s CFS integral table were applied to evaluate the fatigue degree of patients before and after the treatment, and the therapeutic effects of both groups were compared. Results After one course of treatment, the BELL’s scores of both groups were obviously improved （both P0.01）, but there was no significant difference between the 2 groups （P0.05）; after 2 courses of treatment, the BELL’s score in acupuncture-cupping group improved more obviously than that of the prednisone group （P0.05）, and the total effective rate of 91.9% （34/37） in acupuncture-cupping group was superior to that of 71.4% （25/35） in prednisone group （P0.05）. Conclusion The therapeutic effect of chronic fatigue syndrome treated with coiling dragon needling and moving cupping on back is positive, which is superior to that of prednisone with oral administration.
