Abstract： Objective： To observe the clinical effect of plum- blossom needle tapping combined with Chinese medicine fumigation for acute gouty arthritis (AGA). Methods： A total of 116 patients with AGA with retention of damp- heat syndrome were divided into the control group and the observation group according to the random number table method，with 58 cases in each group. The control group was treated with Colchicine Tablets， and the observation group was treated with Chinese medicine fumigation combined with plum- blossom needle tapping based on the treatment of the control group. Both groups were treated for 7 days. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores， traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scores，and laboratory indicators [uric acid，erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)，C- reactive protein (CRP)， and interleukin- 1 (IL- 1)] were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. The clinical effects and adverse reactions that occurred during treatment were compared between two groups. Results： After treatment， the total effective rate was 93.10% in the observation group，higher than that of 77.59% in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment，the VAS scores in the two groups were decreased (P＜0.05)，and the score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment，the traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores of the main and secondary symptoms in the two groups were decreased (P＜0.05)，and the scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment，the levels of blood uric acid，ESR， CRP，and IL-1 in the two groups were decreased (P＜0.05)，and the levels in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P＞0.05). Conclusion： The combination of plum- blossom needle tapping and Chinese medicine fumigation for AGA with retention of damp- heat syndrome can improve clinical effects，reduce inflammatory reactions，and have good safety.