Objective To observe the clinical effect of chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan（ST 7） combined with intradermal needling on negative emotion in primary trigeminal neuralgia（PTN） of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis.Methods Sixty cases of patients with PTN of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group

30 cases in each group.The observation group was treated with chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan（ST 7） combined with intradermal needling（acupoints Sibai [ST 2]

Yuyao [EX-HN 4]

Hegu [LI 4]

Taichong [LR 3] and auricular points Xin [CO15]

Shenmen [TF4]

Pizhixia [AT4]

etc.）

once a day

6 d as a course of treatment

rest 1 d between courses

a total of 2 courses of treatment;and the control group was given oral carbamazepine tablets for 13 days.Before and after treatment

the pain visual analogue scale（VAS）

TCM syndromes

self-rating anxiety scale（SAS） scores and the contents of serum neurotransmitter（β-endorphin [β-EP]

substance P [SP] and 5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]） were compared

and the clinical efficacy was evaluated.Results After treatment

the VAS

SAS

TCM syndrome scores and the contents of serum SP in the two groups were lower than those before treatment（P<0.05）

and the above indexes in the observation group was lower than those in the control group（P<0.05）.The contents of serum β-EP and 5-HT in the two groups were higher than those before treatment（P<0.05）

and the above indexes in the observation group were higher than those in the control group（P<0.05）.The total effective rate in the observation group was 93.3%（28/30）

which was higher than 83.3%（25/30） in the control group（P<0.05）.Conclusion Chicken-claw needling at Xiaguan（ST 7） combined with intradermal needling can relieve pain symptoms and negative emotions in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia of phlegm obstruction and blood stasis

which may be related to the regulation of serum neurotransmitter levels.