Acupuncture versus Rehabilitation in the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke Recovery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

作者：Lixia Li, Weifeng Zhu, Guohua Lin, Chuyun Chen, Donghui Tang, Shiyu Lin, Xiaorong Weng, Liqin Xie, Lihong Lu, Weilin Li · 发表于：Research Square · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.21203/rs.2.177/v1 · 研究领域：Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies、Healthcare and Venom Research、Botulinum Toxin and Related Neurological Disorders

Abstract Background: Acupuncture is a treatment for ischemic stroke recovery, but evidence of its effectiveness remains limited. Methods: A total of 497 patients with ischemic stroke were randomized into Arm 1 (159 cases), Arm 2 (173 cases) and a control group (165 cases). In the control group, rehabilitation training was provided. In Arm 1 and Arm 2, acupoint schemes were determined by the consensus of acupuncture experts and previous clinical research. Arm 1 was based on an acupoint summary of ancient literature, and Arm 2 was based on the summary of effective acupuncture points in modern RCT literature. The treatment was given with conventional acupuncture at the appropriate position. After acupuncture, the needles were left in for 30 minutes, and checked every 10 minutes. The three groups received treatment once a day, 5 times a week, for 2 weeks. The primary outcome were the National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS), and the secondary outcomes were the Barthel index (BI) and modified Ashworth scale (MAS). Outcomes were observed in patients both before and after treatment. Results: After 2 weeks of treatment, there was no significant difference between Arm 1 and the control group for either the BI scores or the modified Ashworth scale scores (P>0.05). However, the NIHSS scores of Arm 1 were lower than those of the control group (P=0.017); the BI scores were higher in Arm 2 than they were in the control group (P=0.020). Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of Arm 1...