The Effects Of Abdominal Acupuncture Treatment On Motor Dysfunction Of Upper Limb In Patients With Stroke

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of abdominal acupuncture on upper limb motor dysfunction in patients with ischemic stroke,to verify the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture on those patients and provide an effective traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation treatment.MethodsSixty-six primary ischemic stroke patients were selected and randomly divided into three groups,including abdominal acupuncture group(22 cases),sham abdominal acupuncture group(22 cases)and control group(22 cases).All the groups were treated for 4 weeks,30 minutes a time,once a day,5 times a week.The Brunnstrom staging scale of upper limb and hand("Brunnstrom-U"and "Brunnstrom-H"),the Fugl-Meyer motor assessment scale of upper limb("FMA-U"),Wolf motor function test("WMFT")and Modified Barthel Index("MBI")were evaluated before and 4 weeks after treatment.After the course of treatment,all data were entered into the Excel database.Data was analyzed by statistical software SPSS 23.0.T test,Variance analysis or Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for comparison between groups of the metering data,and the pairing t test or Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for comparison before and after treatment in group.Chi-Square inspection was used to compare counting data between groups.Rank sum test was used for comparison between groups as wll as before and after treatment in group of grading data.Results1.Baseline comparison:There was no significant difference in the basic data and efficacy evaluation indexes between the three groups before treatment(P>0.05),and the baseline was consistent.2.Comparison of efficacy:After treatment,scores of FMA-U、MBI and WMFT were obviously higher than before in the three groups(P<0.05).The stages of Brunnstrom-U and Brunnstrom-H in abdominal acupuncture group were significantly higher than those before treatment(P<0.05).There was no remarkable difference between the Brunnstrom-U and Brunnstrom-H stages of the sham abdominal acupuncture group as well as control group(P>0.05)compared with those before treatment.The scores of FMA-U and WMFT in abdominal acupuncture group were remarkably higher than those in sham acupuncture group and control group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in scores of FMA-U and WMFT in sham abdominal acupuncture group as wll as control group(P>0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in Brunnstrom-U,Brunnstrom-H and MBI scores after a four-week treatment between the three groups(P>0.05).The change rate of FMA-U and WMFT scores in abdominal acupuncture group was higher than that of the remaining two groups,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).3.Hierarchical comparison:In terms of age,there was significant difference in scores of WMFT between groups(P<0.05).In terms of course of disease,there was no significant difference in MBI scores(P>0.05)and there was significant difference in FMA-U and WMFT scores between the three groups(P<0.05).The comparison in scores of FMA-U showed that there was significant difference between the abdominal acupuncture group and the sham acupuncture group,the control group,regardless of the course(p<0.05).But there was no apparent difference between sham abdominal acupuncture group and the control group(P>0.05).4.No adverse reactions occurred during the treatment.ConclusionTherapy of abdominal acupuncture can evidently improve motor function of upper limb in patients with ischemic stroke,and it is safe and effective.It remains to be further explored that whether it can improve activities of daily living in stroke patients.