Effects of scalp acupuncture on brain injury in premature infants with different months of age

Abstract

To explore the clinical efficacy differences of scalp acupuncture on brain injury in premature infants with different months of age. According to the corrected months of age, 90 cases of premature infants with brain injury were divided into a group A (3 through 6 corrected months of age), a group B (7 through 9 corrected months of age) and group C (10 through 12 corrected months of age), 30 patients in each one. Based on the conventional early intervention, the infants in the group A were treated with scalp acupuncture at Zhiqizhen, motor area; the infants in the group B were treated with scalp acupuncture at Zhiqizhen, motor area and foot motor sensory area; the infants in the group C were treated with scalp acupuncture at Zhiqizhen, motor area, foot motor sensory area and balance area. All the treatment was given once every other day, and totally 30 treatments were given. The Alberta infant motor scale (AIMS), development quotient (DQ) of each function indexes in Gesell developmental scale (GDS) were observed before and after treatment; the clinical efficacy of each group was compared and the correlation between clinical efficacy and months of age was analyzed. Compared before treatment, the total score of AIMS and DQ of each function indexes of GDS were all improved in the three groups after treatment (all P<0.01). After treatment, the differences of total score of AIMS and DQ of each function indexes of GDS among the three groups were significant (P<0.05, P<0.01), and the results in the group A were higher than those in the group B and the group C (P<0.05, P<0.01). The total effective rate was 96.3% (26/27) in the group A, which was higher than 89.7% (26/29) in the group B and 83.3% (25/30) in the group C. The correlation analysis indicated less months of age was significantly corelated with better efficacy (P<0.05). Scalp acupuncture has superior improvement on the recovery of brain damage in premature infants, especially for those with 6 months of age or less.