Influence of nape acupuncture therapy on swallowing function of patients with cerebral infarction / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the influence of nape acupuncture therapy on swallowing function of patients with cerebral infarction. Methods Eighty patients with dysphagia after cerebral infarction were recruited and randomly allocated to the nape acupuncture group and the control group, 40 each group. Both groups were given general medicine therapy and swallowing functional training, while the nape acupuncture group was given nape acupuncture based on the control group, and fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy was used for the swallowing function before and after treatment. Rosenbek Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) score of 5ml pudding food, 5ml and 10ml liquid food, and the scores for bedside water-swallowing test and standardized swallowing assessment (SSA) were obtained. Before and after treatment, the differences between the two groups were identified respectively. Results After treatment, the scores of SSA and PAS of swallowing of 3 kinds of food in both groups were significantly improved compared with those before treatment (P<0.05). The improvement of SSA and PAS scores of 5ml and 10ml liquid food in the nape acupuncture group were superior to the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the nape acupunture group was significantly higher than that of control group (χ2=5.00, P<0.05). Conclusion Nape acupuncture therapy may significantly improve the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia following cerebral infarction.