Influence of acupuncture combined with rehabilitation on arterial blood gas of, respiratory of and prognosis of elderly patients with pulmonary infection after stroke

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture combined with rehabilitation therapy on arterial blood gas index, respiratory index and prognosis of elderly patients with pulmonary infection after stroke. Methods From April 2015 to August 2017, a total of 74 cases with pulmonary infection after stroke were treated in Danyang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. They were divided into western medicine treatment group (37 cases) and western medicine + traditional Chinese Medicine treatment (TCM) group (37 cases) by random digital table method. The effective rate, arterial blood gas index, respiratory index, acute physiological and chronic health score (APACHE Ⅱ), procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) and count of white blood cell (WBC) before and after treatment were compared between the two groups, respectively. Results Before treatment, the partial pressure of blood oxygen (PaO2) (t = 0.414, P = 0.340), oxygen saturation (SaO2) (t = 0.837, P = 0.203), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) (t = 0.517, P = 0.304), count of WBC (t = 0.071, P = 0.943), the oxygen partial pressure of alveolar artery (t = 0.399, P = 0.346), respiratory index (t = 0.440, P = 0.331) and APACHE Ⅱ score (t = 0.474, P = 0.318) between patients in two groups were all with significant differences. The effective rate of TCM treatment group was significantly higher than that of western medicine treatment group (91.89% vs. 70.27%; χ2 = 5.638, P = 0.018). The levels of PaO2 (t = 33.824, P < 0.001) and SaO2 (t = 2.701, P = 0.004) in western medicine treatment group were significantly higher than those in the western medicine treatment group, while the levels of PaCO2 (t = 20.196, P < 0.001), count of WBC (t = 2.380, P = 0.020), alveolar arterial oxygen partial pressure difference (t = 18.923, P < 0.001), respiratory index (t = 5.302, P < 0.001), APACHE Ⅱ score (t = 4.450, P < 0.001), PCT (t = 5.625, P < 0.001) and CRP (t = 5.625, P < 0.001) in western medicine treatment group were significantly lower than those in western medicine treatment group, all with significant differences. Conclusions Acupuncture combined with rehabilitation could effectively improve the curative effect of elderly patients with pulmonary infection after stroke, improve their arterial blood gas index, alveolar arterial oxygen partial pressure difference and respiratory indexes, decrease the APACHE Ⅱ score and inflammatory reaction of patients with respiratory infection. Key words: Acupuncture; Rehabilitation therapy; Stroke; Pulmonary infection; Arterial blood gas index; Respiratory index