Objective: To determine whether patients with post-stroke hemiplegia could benefit from long-term treatment with scalp cluster (SC) acupuncture combined with electrical stimulation (ES) and to evaluate the feasibility of this treatment to improve motor and living abilities.
Methods: Twenty patients were enrolled and divided into two groups: SC acupuncture and SC acupuncture with ES (SC and SC + ES, respectively). All participants also received rehabilitation training. All participants were blindly evaluated using the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale for motor ability, the modified Barthel Index for living ability, and a scale for the degree of neurological deficits. Outcome was assessed at three points before randomized grouping, at the beginning or treatment, and after 4 weeks of treatment.
Results: Following 4 weeks treatment, all the patients exhibited significant improvements in aspects of motor ability, living ability, and the severity of neurological deficits. The experimental group (SC + ES) scored higher on the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale (68 ¡À 12) and the modified Barthel Index (49 ¡À 9) than the control (SC) group (50 ¡À 13, 36 ¡À 13, respectively).
Conclusion: When patients with post-stroke hemiplegia are treated using SC acupuncture with ES, motor and living ability can improve more than if they were treated with SC acupuncture alone.
Keywords: Electrical stimulation; Hemiplegia; Rehabilitation; Scalp cluster acupuncture; Stroke.