Electroacupuncture versus conventional acupuncture of scalp motor area for post-stroke wrist dyskinesia and its effect on muscle function: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) at scalp motor area for treating post-stroke wrist dyskinesia and its influence on the function of wrist movement-related agonistic muscles.

Methods: A randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial was conducted. Sixty-six patients undergoing post-stroke wrist dyskinesia were enrolled and randomized 1 : 1 to EA or control group. Patients in the control group received manual acupuncture in the scalp motor area (MS 6) on the lesion side. The same acupoint was selected to accept EA stimulation in the EA group. All patients were treated six times a week for three weeks. The primary outcome was the Chinese Stroke Scale (CSS) score. The secondary outcomes included upper limb-related Barthel Index (BI) score, active range of motion (AROM) of the wrist joint, and root mean square (RMS) of the four agonistic muscles associated with wrist motion on the hemiplegic side of patients, i. e., the extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL), extensor digitorum (ED), flexor carpi radialis (FCR) and flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU). The above indicators were measured before and after three weeks of treatment.

Results: After 3-week treatment, the CSS score and AROM of wrist dorsiflexion of the EA group were better than those in the control group (P = 0.038, P = 0.047). The differences between the two groups of BI scores and AROM of wrist flexion were not significant (P > 0.05). All RMS of the EA group were higher than those in the control group (ECRL: P = 0.047, ED: P = 0.048, FCR: P = 0.049, FCU: P = 0.047). The total effective rate in the EA group was 87.50% (28/32), which was higher than that in the control group (77.42%, 24/31, P = 0.048).

Conclusion: EA stimulation of the scalp motor area can promote the recovery of the strength and function of the agonistic muscles related to wrist movement and effectively improve post-stroke wrist dyskinesia.