Clinical Observation Of Acupuncture At Distal Acupoints Along Meridians Plus Exercise On Early Stage Shoulder-Hand Sydrome After Stroke

Objective:To observe the clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture at distal acupoints along meridians combined with exercise therapy on early stage shoulder-hand sydrome (SHS) after stroke.Methods:60 cases of post-stroke SHS as research subjects were randomly divided into treatment group and control group,30 cases in each.Treatment group was treated by acupuncture at distal acupoints along meridians plus exercise therapy, while the control group was treated by acupuncture at triple-shoulder acupoints therapy.They were treated for twenty-one days.The therapeutic effects was assessed by application of effective assessment, Visual analogue scale (VAS), Fugl-meyer assessment (FMA) and Modified barthel index(MBI).Results:Effective rate in the treatment group was 93.33%,while control group was 73.33%, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05).The comparison of VAS,FMA and MBI also showed a marked difference(P<0.05).Conclusion:Both the acupuncture at distal acupoints along meridians plus exercise therapy and acupuncture at triple-shoulder acupoints therapy on SHS after stroke can improve patient's visual analogue scales(VAS), the motor function of upper limbs,and other symptoms,while the distal acupoints along meridians plus exercise therapy is superior to the acupuncture at triple-shoulder acupoints therapy in managing early stage SHS after stroke.