Objective: To observe the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with cupping at the lumbo-back on post-stroke fatigue.
Methods: A total of 128 cases of post-stroke fatigue patients were randomly divided into EA + cupping group and medication group, with 64 cases in each group. EA (20 Hz, 2 mA) was applied to Baihui (GV 20), Yintang (EX-HN 3), Shuigou (GV 26), Hegu (LI 4), Zusanli (ST 36), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), and Taichong (LR 3) for 30 min, once daily for 30 times, and cupping was applied at the patient's lumbo-back region once every two days, and continuously for 5 weeks. Patients of medication group were ordered to take compound aminobutyric acid vitamin E capsule (20 mg, t. i.d, po), magnesium gluconate solution (10 mL, t. i. d, po), sertraline hydrochloridetablet (50 mg, qd, po) for 5 weeks. The Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL) was used to evaluate the patients' energy state.
Results: After the treatment, the energy scores of SS-QOL of both EA + cupping and medication groups were increased significantly in comparison with the pre-treatment in each group (P < 0.05), and that of the EA+ cupping group was significantly higher than the score of the medication group (P < 0.05). Of the two 64 cases in EA + cupping group and medication group, 42 and 23 were recovered basically, 13 and 13 experienced marked improvement, 7 and 18 were effective, 2 and 10 failed in the treatment, with the effective rates being 96.87% and 84.37% respectively. The effective rate of EA + cupping group was obviously higher than that of medication group (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: EA+ cupping at the lumbo-back can effectively relieve fatigue of post-stroke patients, and its therapeutic effect is superior to medication.