Scalp-cluster acupuncture with electrical stimulation can improve motor and living ability in convalescent patients with post-stroke hemiplegia

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether patients with post-stroke hemiplegia could benefit from long-term treatment with scalp cluster (SC) acupuncture combined with electrical stimulation (ES) and to evaluate the feasibility of this treatment to improve motor and living abilities.

METHODS

Twenty patients were enrolled and divided into two groups: SC acupuncture and SC acupuncture with ES (SC and SC + ES, respectively). All participants also received rehabilitation training. All participants were blindly evaluated using the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale for motor ability, the modified Barthel Index for living ability, and a scale for the degree of neurological deficits. Outcome was assessed at three points before randomized grouping, at the beginning or treatment, and after 4 weeks of treatment.

RESULTS

Following 4 weeks treatment, all the patients exhibited significant improvements in aspects of motor ability, living ability, and the severity of neurological deficits. The experimental group (SC + ES) scored higher on the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale (68 ± 12) and the modified Barthel Index (49 ± 9) than the control (SC) group (50 ± 13, 36 ± 13, respectively).

CONCLUSION

When patients with post-stroke hemiplegia are treated using SC acupuncture with ES, motor and living ability can improve more than if they were treated with SC acupuncture alone.