Radix et Rhizoma Rhei plus abdominal massage to prevent constipation in patients with acute stroke / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

A total of 100 in-hospital patients with acute stroke were randomly assigned to receive traditional Chinese medicine Radix et Rhizoma Rhei combined with abdominal massage(once daily; study group, n=50) or observation (control group, n=50 ) to prevent from constipation. After 3 days' treatment, 3 patients (6%) in the study group and 44 patients (88%) in the control group developed constipation (χ2=67.482, P<0.01). In addition, no adverse effects occurred in the study group. Our results indicated that traditional Chinese medicine Radix et Rhizoma Rhei combined with abdominal massage might help acute stroke patients to prevent from constipation, achieve earlier health recovery, and improve quality of life.