[Post-stroke dysphagia treated with four-step acupuncture therapy for opening orifices and benefiting throat combined with neuromuscular electrical stimulation: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy on post-stroke dysphagia treated with four-step acupuncture therapy for opening orifices and benefiting throat combined with neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

METHODS: Sixty patients with post-stroke dysphagia were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, with 30 cases in each group. The neuromuscular electrical stimulation was adopted in the control group. Besides the treatment as the control group, in the observation group, the four-step acupuncture therapy for opening orifices and benefiting throat was supplemented. Step 1: the three areas of scalp acupuncture on the affected side were stimulated. Step 2: pricking method was operated on the posterior pharyngeal wall. Step 3: bleeding technique was operated at Jinjin (EX-HN 12) and Yuye (EX-HN 13). Step 4: deep insertion of needle was operated at three-pharynx points. The needles were retained for 30 min at the three areas of scalp acupuncture and the three-pharynx points. The intervention of each group was delivered once daily, 6 times a week, at the interval of 1 day. One course of treatment was 1 week and 4 successive courses were required. The rating of Kubota water swallow test, the score of standardized swallowing assessment (SSA) and the rating of Rosenbek penetration- aspiration scale (PAS) were observed before and after treatment in patients of the two groups. The incidence of clinical complications and clinical efficacy were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: Compared with those before treatment, the rating of Kubota water swallow test, the scores of SSA and the rating of PAS of patients in the two groups were decreased after treatment ( P <0.01), and the values of the observation group were lower than those of the control group after treatment ( P <0.05). The incidence of clinical complications in the observation group was 13.3% (4/30), lower than 36.7% (11/30) in the control group ( P <0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 93.3% (28/30), which was better than 70.0% (21/30) in the control group ( P <0.05).

CONCLUSION: The four-step acupuncture therapy for opening orifices and benefiting throat combined with neuromuscular electrical stimulation can improve the swallowing function of patients with post-stroke dysphagia and reduce the incidence of clinical complications.