Acupuncture for arousal combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation promotes functional reorganization of brain regions in patients with a minimally conscious state: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

作者：Jiajia Li, Hong Fang, Ying Liu, Pei-Xin Li, Zhi-Hong Ou, Z Li, Tao Huang, Juan Sun, Jueyu Zhang, Fangyi Lu, Xi Wen · 发表于：Frontiers in Neurology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fneur.2025.1610462 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Traumatic Brain Injury Research、Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies、Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery

Introduction: The minimally conscious state (MCS) is one of the common and serious complications of stroke patients. Its incidence is higher than that of other types of consciousness disorders. The prolonged monitoring and comprehensive management of patients with MCS imposes substantial socioeconomic burden, creating multifaceted challenges for healthcare systems and considerable strain on familial resources. However, there are still few studies on the treatment of MCS, so there is a lack of standardized and effective treatment for MCS, which needs to be solved urgently. In order to solve this problem, this study proposes a treatment plan of acupuncture for arousal combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Acupuncture for arousal is a clinical acupuncture therapy. Accumulating evidence from the published literature indicates that acupuncture for arousal interventions can significantly enhance consciousness levels in comatose patients. Nevertheless, conventional acupuncture monotherapy necessitates extended treatment durations, potentially compromising patient outcomes and neurological recovery trajectories. rTMS can excite or inhibit specific cortical functional areas of the brain, thereby improving the level of consciousness in comatose patients. The significance of this study is to clarify the efficacy and safety of wake-promoting acupuncture combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with minimal consciousness after str...