Clinical observation of electroacupuncture with different frequencies in treatment of hemiplegic shoulder pain after stroke

Abstract

To observe the clinical efficacy on hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) after stroke treated with electroacupuncture (EA) under different frequencies. A total of 105 patients with HSP after stroke were randomly divided into a manual acupuncture group (35 cases, 2 cases dropped off), an EA continuous wave group (35 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and an EA disperse-dense wave group (35 cases). The conventional rehabilitation therapy was delivered in the three groups. Additionally, acupuncture was applied to Jianyu (LI 15), Jianzhen (SI 9), Jianliao (TE 14) and Jianqian (Extra) etc. on the affected side in the manual acupuncture group. In the EA continuous wave group and the EA disperse-dense wave group, besides the treatment as the manual acupuncture group, the electric stimulation was attached to two pairs of acupoints, i.e. Jianyu (LI 15) and Jianliao (TE 14), and Quchi (LI 11) and Shousanli (LI 10), with 15 Hz continuous wave, and 2 Hz/ 100 Hz disperse-dense wave, respectively. The treatment was given once daily, 5 times a week, for 4 weeks consecutively. The score of visual analogue scale (VAS) before treatment and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, as well as the passive range of motion (PROM) of shoulder forward flexion and PROM of shoulder abduction, muscle strength of the upper limb, the score of modified Barthel index (MBI) and the score of Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) before and after treatment were observed in each group. Compared with before treatment, VAS scores were reduced after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment in each group (P<0.05); and VAS scores after 4 weeks of treatment were lower than those after 2 weeks of treatment (P<0.05). After 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, VAS score in either the EA continuous wave group or the EA disperse-dense wave group was lower compared with the manual acupuncture group (P<0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, VAS score in the EA disperse-dense wave was lower than that of the EA continuous wave group (P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, PROM of the shoulder forward flexion and abduction on the affected side after treatment was enlarged (P<0.05), the muscle strength of the upper limb was increased (P<0.05), and the scores of MBI and FMA were increased (P<0.05) in the patients of each group. After treatment, in the EA continuous wave group and the EA disperse-dense wave group, PROM of the shoulder forward flexion on the affected side was higher (P<0.05), the muscle strength of the upper limb was stronger (P<0.05) when compared with the manual acupuncture group; and the scores of MBI and FMA in the EA disperse-dense wave group were higher than those of the manual acupuncture group (P<0.05). Electroacupuncture is superior to manual acupuncture in the analgesic effect and comprehensive rehabilitation effect in the patients with HSP after stroke. The therapeutic effect obtained by electroacupuncture with 2 Hz/100 Hz disperse-dense wave is better than that with 15 Hz continuous wave.