Abstract： Objective： To observe the clinical effect of the therapy of cross-shaped acupotomy combined with improved suction cupping on acute gouty arthritis. Methods： A total of 60 patients with acute gouty arthritis were selected and divided into the control group and the observation group according to random number table method，with 30 cases in each group. The control group was treated with Diclofenac Sodium Sustained-Release Capsules， and the observation group was additionally treated with crossshaped acupotomy combined with improved suction cupping based on the treatment of the control group. The two groups were treated for 14 days. The clinical effects in the two groups were evaluated， and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome scores， inflammation indexes and levels of serum uric acid (SUA) before and after treatment were compared between the two groups， and the knee joint function， joint motion and pain degree were also compared before and after treatment. Results：After treatment，the total effective rate was 96.67% in the observation group，higher than that of 73.33% in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment，the TCM syndrome scores in both groups were reduced when compared with those before treatment (P＜0.05)，and the TCM syndrome scores in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment， the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP)， erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and SUA in both groups were decreased when compared with those before treatment (P＜0.05)，and the levels of CRP，ESR and SUA in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05). After treatment，the Lysholm scores and knee joint range of motion (ROM) in both groups were enhanced when compared with those before treatment， and the scores of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were reduced when compared with those before treatment (P＜0.05)；the Lysholm score and ROM in the observation group were higher than those in the control group，and the VAS score was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). Conclusion： The therapy of cross-shaped acupotomy combined with improved suction cupping has a significant clinical effect on acute gouty arthritis，which can alleviate the clinical symptoms and pain degree of patients，reduce the levels of inflammatory factors，and improve joint function and joint motion.