ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture at the Foot Shaoyang Meridian and Yin Heel Vessel in treating post-stroke strephenopodia. Method Forty-two eligible subjects were divided into a treatment group of 21 cases and a control group of 21 cases by the random number table. The treatment group was intervened by acupuncture at Yanglingquan (GB34) and Zulinqi (GB41) from the Foot Shaoyang Meridian and Zhaohai (KI6) from the Yin Heel Vessel, while the control group was by acupuncture at conventional acupoints, once a day, 6 d as a treatment course, 5 courses in total. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Modified Barthel Index (MBI) were adopted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy. Result The treatment group was superior to the control group in improving strephenopodia, and recovering the lower-limb motor function and activities of daily living (ADL), and the intra-group and inter-group differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared to the conventional acupuncture, acupuncture by selecting acupoints from the Foot Shaoyang Meridian and Yin Heel Vessel has significant advantages in treating post-stroke strephenopodia.