Objective To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Erteng Tongbi Mixture（Mixture of spatholobus stem and Chinese flowering crabapple for relieving stagnation syndrome of qi and blood）plus Zhengqing Fengtongning Sustained Released Tablet in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis（RA）.Methods Totally 88 RA patients were randomized into treatment group of 30 cases

control group A of 30 cases

and control group B of 28 cases.The treatment group was administered Erteng Tongbi Mixture plus Zhengqing Fengtongning Sustained Released Tablet

the control group A was administered Erteng Tongbi Mixture only

and the control group B was administered Zhengqing Fengtongning Sustained Released Tablet only.The treatment lasted 3 months in all.The changes in disease activity scores（DAS-28）

swelling joints count（SJC）

tender joints count（TJC）

general health state（GH）

and erythrocyte sedimentation rate（ESR）of the patients were observed and the untoward effects in the process of treatment were recorded.Results The total effective rate of the treatment group was 86.7%

that of the control group A was 76.7%

and that of the control group B was 67.9%.There was statistical difference in the comparison of the treatment group with the control groups A or B（P<0.05）.After treatment

the SJC

TJC

and GH of the three groups were all improved

the DAS-28 scores lowered

and the ESR decreased significantly

the difference was statistically significant（P<0.01）.There was also statistical difference in the comparison of SJC

TJC

GH

ESR

and DAS-28 scores of the treatment group with those of the control groups A and B（P<0.05or P<0.01）.There was no statistical difference in the improvement in GH and DAS-28 scores between the control group A and B（P>0.05）

while in SJC and TJC reduction and ESR decrease

there was statistical difference in the comparison of the control group A with B（P<0.05）.There was no statistical difference in side effect in the three groups.Conclusion The clinical efficacy of Erteng Tongbi Mixture and Zhengqing Fengtongning Sustained Released Tablet used in combination is better than that of single use and they can effectively control the pathological condition of RA patients in the active stage.It can be made as a mode of combined application of Chinese medicines in clinical treatment safely.