Purposes: The control of spasticity is often a significant problem in the management of patients with stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acupuncture treatment on the spastic states of stroke patients.
Setting: An outpatient Acupuncture Department in the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Participants: One hundred and thirty-one patients, mean (SD) age of 59 (12) years, with spastic hemiplegia were included at mean (SD) month of 17 (7) months after stroke.
Intervention: Participants received two 30-day treatment regimens: combined stimulating surface projection zone of decussation of pyramid and traditional acupuncture treatment, and traditional acupuncture treatment only.
Main outcome measures: Differences in the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), Barthel Index (BI), and the electromyographic activity of the affected extremity between arms.
Results: The average (+/-SD) upper extremity Ashworth score significantly decreased, from 3.08+/-0.77 before treatment to 1.82+/-0.65 after acupuncture intervention (wrist joint, P<0.05), and from 2.72+/-0.59 to 1.32+/-0.71 (elbow joint, P<0.05) for treatment group. There were significant differences noted between the treatment group and control group after administration. Lower extremity treatment responses were similar to upper extremity responses. However, both groups showed similar improvement in FMA (upper extremity) and FMA (lower extremity). However, the improvements of FMA (total), BI, and F/M ratio were better in treatment group than in control group.
Conclusions: These results suggested that acupuncturing surface projection zone of decussation of pyramid was effective in reducing spastically increased muscle tone and motor neuron excitability in spastic hemiplegia, and could improve spastic states of stroke patients, thus providing a safe and economical method for treating stroke patients.