Effectiveness of electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation exercises on swallowing function of dysphagic stroke patients / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation exercises on swallowing function and cerebral perfusion in dysphagic stroke patients.Methods Sixty-two stroke pa- tients with dysphagia were randomly divided into a treatment group(n=32)and a control group(n=30).The treat- ment group received electroacupunture,rehabilitation exercise and conventional medical treatment,while the control group received only rehabilitation exercise and conventional medical treatment.They were treated once a day,6 times a week for 4 weeks.Water drinking test,stethocatharsis scores and swallowing fluorography were used to assess the swallowing function before and after treatment.Single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT)was also em- ployed to observe the status of cerebral perfusion before and after treatment.Results It was shown that the swallo- wing function and cerebral perfusion in the treatment group were significantly better than the control group after treat- ment.The effective rate in the treatment group was 96.88% while that of the control group was 66.67%.Conclu- sion Electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation exercises is effective in treating the dysphagic stroke patients, and can significantly improve the brain perfusion of these patients.