Objective To explore the effective therapy for deficiency syndrome in the maintenance hemodialysis patients of end-stage renal disease. Methods Ninety-seven maintenance hemodialysis patients of end-stage renal disease were divided into an observation group （51 cases） and a control group （46 cases） randomly, and routine western medicines were used in both groups. On this base, moxibustion was given at Zusanli （足三里 ST 36） and Sanyijiao （三阴交 SP 6） with a paper-tube-moxibustion equipment in the observation group. The therapeutic effects on syndromes were evaluated by comparing the symptom scores in two groups before and after treatment. Results After treatment, all the symptom scores in the observation group were improved significantly （all P〈0.05）, with fatigue and weakness, short breath and aversion to talking, poor appetite, lassitude in loin and knees, aversion to cold, cool extremities and so on most obviously improved, and the total effective rate on the syndrome in observation group （64.7%, 33/51） was significantly higher than that in control group （23.9%, 11/46）, with a significant difference between the two groups （P〈0.05）. Conclusion Moxibustion can improve the clinical symptoms of maintenance hemodialysis patients of end-stage renal disease, and it has some therapeutic effect on the deficiency syndrome.
