Thirty-two articles from January 2000 to December 2014,with ankylosing spondylitis treated by acupuncture,moxibustion and medicines(Chinese medicine or western medicine) and statistically significant and effective results,were collected through Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),WANFANG and VIP databases. It is concluded that there are various methods except medicines treating ankylosing spondylitis,including acupuncture,acupuncture combined with moxibustion,warm acupuncture,electroacupuncture,apitherapy,fire needle therapy,etc. Further studies are needed to be implemented so as to promote the combination therapy of acupuncture and medicine for ankylosing spondylitis,such as the standard cases of the combination therapy and mechanism.
Keywords: acupuncture; ankylosing spondylitis; medicine; moxibustion; review.