Objective: To investigate short-term and long-term efficacy of PGLA thread-embedding therapy in the treatment of stage Ⅰ post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.
Methods: A total of 60 patients with stage Ⅰ post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome were randomly divided into control group and treatment group, with 30 patients in each group. The patients in the control group were given acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training, and those in the treatment group were given PGLA thread-embedding therapy combined with rehabilitation training. Conventional acupuncture was performed once a day, and thread-embedding therapy was performed once every 5 days. Both groups were treated for 30 days. Clinical outcome, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, hand edema score, and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) score were compared within and between groups immediately and at 1 month after treatment.
Results: The treatment group had a significantly higher overall response rate than the control group immediately and at 1 month after treatment (93.33%/86.67% vs 73.33%/56.67%, P<0.05). Both groups had significant reductions in VAS score and hand edema score and a significant increase in FMA score immediately and at 1 month after treatment (P<0.05), and the treatment group had significantly greater improvements than the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: PGLA thread-embedding therapy has a better clinical effect than conventional acupuncture in the treatment of stage Ⅰ post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.
Keywords: PGLA thread-embedding therapy; Stage Ⅰ shoulder-hand syndrome; Stroke.