Clinical observation on acupuncture combined with Chinese medicine and rehabilitation training for subacute stroke patients / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the clinical effect of combining acupuncture, Chinese medicine and rehabilitation training for subacute stroke. Methods:A total of 120 subacute stroke cases were randomly allocated into a treatment group (n=60) and a control group (n=60). Patients in the control group received standard rehabilitation therapy alone, whereas patients in the observation group received additional acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Before treatment, after 30-day and 60-day treatments, and 3 months after treatment, the neurologic deficit severity was evaluated using the National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS); the motor function was evaluated using the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale (FMA); the activities of daily living (ADL) was evaluated using the Barthel index (BI); and the changes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptoms were evaluated according to TCM symptom scores. Results:After 30-day, 60-day treatments, and 3 months after treatment, the NIHSS, FMA, BI and TCM symptoms scores were statistically different from those before treatment in both groups (allP<0.05); and there were between-group statistical differences at same time points (allP<0.05). Conclusion:Combining acupuncture, Chinese medicine and rehabilitation training can improve neurologic deficit, motor function and ADL in subacute stroke patients and its efficacy is better than rehabilitation therapy alone.