Clinical Observation of Electroacupuncture plus Pricking Bloodletting for Deglutition Disorder After Cerebral Stroke / 上海针灸杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effectiveness of electroacupuncture plus bloodletting in treating deglutition disorder after cerebral stroke.Method Eighty-four patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 42 cases in each group. The treatment group was intervened by electroacupuncture plus bloodletting and rehabilitation training, while the control group was intervened by rehabilitation training. After 2 treatment courses and 6 months after the treatment, Kubota's water drinking test and clinical bedside assessment were evaluated to measure the short-term and long-term therapeutic efficacies. By observing the change of clinical bedside assessment score, the effect of electroacupuncture plus bloodletting on certain symptoms of deglutition disorder was analyzed.Result The total effective rate was 90.5% in the treatment group versus54.8% in the control group, and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.01).Respectively after 2 treatment courses and 6 months after the intervention, the drinking water test scores in the treatment group were superior to those in the control group (P<0.05). The bedside assessment scores in the treatment group were better than those in the control group respectively after 2 treatment courses and 6 months after the intervention (P<0.05). Post-treatment water drinking and bedside assessment scores were significantly better than pre-treatment scores in both groups (P<0.05). According to the observation of short-term and long-term change of bedside assessment, electroacupuncture plus bloodletting significantly improved both short-term and long-term scores of throat function, pharynx reflex, involuntary cough, throat movement, and swallowing cough (P<0.05).Conclusion Clinical observation showed that electroacupuncture plus bloodletting can produce significant short-term and long-term therapeutic efficacies in treating deglutition disorder after cerebral stroke. Electroacupuncture plus bloodletting can produce satisfactory effects in improving mouth-phase and pharynx-phase symptoms and signs in treating deglutition disorder after cerebral stroke.