Clinical Observation of Acupuncture plus Rehabilitation in Treating Deglutition Disorders Due to Cerebral Stroke / 上海针灸杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effect of acupuncture plus rehabilitation in treating deglutition disorders due to cerebral stroke and its effect on each link of the neural pathway of deglutition function. Method By adopting the prospective randomized controlled method, ninety-nine patients with deglutition disorders after cerebral stroke were recruited and divided into an acupuncture-rehabilitation group, a pharyngeal acupuncture group, and a control group, respectively 33 cases, 34 cases, and 32 cases in each group. The acupuncture-rehabilitation group was intervened by acupuncture respectively at scalp, pharyngeal, and the root of tongue plus basic treatment, the pharyngeal acupuncture group was by acupuncture at the deglutition point (Extra) plus basic treatment, while the control group was by the basic treatment alone, once a day, 4 weeks in total. The Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) and Clinical Nursing Swallowing Assessment Tool (CNSAT) were evaluated and statistically analyzed before and after intervention. Result The component scores of CNSAT were significantly improved after intervention in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (P<0.01); the component scores of CNSAT were significantly changed after intervention in the pharyngeal acupuncture group (P<0.05);the CNSAT component scores in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group were significantly different from that in the pharyngeal acupuncture group and control group after intervention (P<0.01); the CNSAT component scores in the pharyngeal acupuncture group were significantly different from that in the control group after intervention (P<0.05). The FOIS scores were enhanced in the three groups after treatment; the FOIS score was significantly changed in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group after intervention (P<0.01);the FOIS score was markedly changed in the pharyngeal acupuncture group after intervention (P<0.05);the FOIS scores in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group and pharyngeal acupuncture group were both significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01,P<0.05). Conclusion The scalp-pharyngeal-root of tongue sequential-acupuncture plus rehabilitation can effectively mitigate the deglutition problems after cerebral stroke, improve the food-intake ability of the patients, and reduce the risk of mistake inhalation.