Effects on immersion of alternating cooling and heating Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture on treating post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of immersion of alternating cooling and heating Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture on treating shoulder-hand syndrome(SHS) after stroke Methods: 79 patients with post-stroke SHS in stage I were randomly divided into trial group(n=39) and control group(n=40). Both groups received routine treatment and rehabilitation treatment for 4 weeks. The control group was given acupuncture treatment, while the trial group was given immersion of alternating cooling and heating Chinese medicine and acupuncture in addition. The level of pain and motor function of upper extremity were respectively assessed by Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) and Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), and the activity of daily living of patients was evaluated by modified barthel index(MBI). Results: At baseline, there is no significant difference between two groups in VAS, FMA-UE andMBI(P> 0.05). After treatment for 4 weeks, the scores of VAS and FMA-UE were improved in both groups, and the improvements seen in the trial group were significantly greater (P 0.05). Conclusion: The integrative therapy of immersion of alternating cooling and heating Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture maybe more effective than those only received acupuncture therapy in the rehabilitation of SHS after stroke The integrative therapy can relieve pain and improve movement function of upper extremity significantly, and raise the effectiveness of recovery, which is worth popularizing and applying.