Acupuncture adjuvant treatment for dysphagia in patients with Parkinson's disease: a randomized controlled trial / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of acupuncture on swallowing function and nutritional status of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) dysphagia.@*METHODS@#A total of 56 patients with PD dysphagia were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 28 cases in each one. Both groups were given conventional treatment and swallowing function rehabilitation training.On the basis, the observation group was treated with acupuncture (filiform needling and tongue picking acupuncture). The acupoints of filiform needling were Lianquan (CV 23), Shanglianquan (Extra), Yifeng (TE 17), etc.; and the tongue picking acupuncture was applied at Jinjin (EX-HN 12), Yuye (EX-HN 13) and posterior pharyngeal wall. Rehabilitation training and acupuncture were performed once a day for 5 consecutive days a week, 2 weeks as a course of treatment, 3 courses in total. The swallowing function [oral transit time (OTT), swallowing response time (SRT), pharyngeal transit time (PTT), laryngeal closure duration (LCD)] and nutritional indexes [body mass index (BMI), serum albumin (ALB), serum prealbumin (PA), hemoglobin (Hb)] in the two groups were evaluated before and after treatment, and the clinical effects were compared.@*RESULTS@#After treatment, the paste and liquid OTT, SRT, PTT, LCD in the two groups were shorter than those before treatment (@*CONCLUSION@#Acupuncture-assisted rehabilitation training can improve the swallowing function and nutritional status in patients with Parkinson's disease swallowing disorders.

Effects of tongue acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training group of dysarthria on speech function in post-stroke dysarthria patients / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effects of tongue and nape acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training group of dysarthria on speech function in post-stroke dysarthria patients, and to explore the treatment of dysarthria.@*METHODS@#Eighty patients with dysarthria were randomly divided into an observation group (40 cases) and a control group (40 cases). The patients in the two groups were treated with conventional treatment. The patients in the control group were treated with the acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training group of dysarthria; the patients in the observation group were treated with the control group treatment and tongue acupuncture, once a day, 6 days per week for 2 weeks. The patients were evaluated with general dysarthria scale and dysarthria checklist of Chinese Rehabilitation Study Center before and after 2-week treatment.@*RESULTS@#After treatment, the total score and each item score of general dysarthria scale were reduced (all <0.05); all the score in the observation group was lower than those in the control group (all <0.05), except the score of jaw which had no significant difference between the two groups. After treatment, the dysarthria checklist of Chinese Rehabilitation Study Center in the observation group was superior to that in the control group (<0.05). The total effective rate was 85.0% (34/40) in the observation group, which was higher than 67.5% (27/40) in the control group (<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Tongue acupuncture, nape acupuncture and rehabilitation training group of dysarthria could effectively improve the speech function of post-stroke dysarthria patients.

Therapeutic Observation of Three Tongue Needles plus Plum-blossom Needle for Aphasia after Ischemic Stroke / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of needling the three tongue points plus plum-blossom needle in treating aphasia after ischemic stroke. Method Sixty patients with aphasia after ischemic stroke were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 30 in each group. The treatment group was intervened by needling the three tongue points plus treating the Jiao’s Language Zone 1 with plum-blossom needle, while the control group was by regular body acupuncture. After 2 treatment courses, the language function score (spontaneous speech fluency, repeating, and reading scores) were observed, and the clinical efficacies were compared.Result After intervention, the spontaneous speech fluency, repeating, and reading scores were significantly changed in both groups (P<0.01). After intervention, there were significant differences in comparing the speech fluency, repeating, and reading scores between the two groups (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 86.7% in the treatment group versus 76.7% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusion Needling the three tongue points plus plum- blossom needle is an effective method in treating aphasia after ischemic stroke.