Effect of scalp combined with intradermal-needle acupuncture synchronized rehabilitation therapy on upper limb motor function after stroke
YU Zifu
YANG Xiaoxia
ZHAO Xia
CAO Xinyan
CHEN Liangxia
LIU Xihua
Abstract：Objective To explore the effect of scalp combined with intradermal-needle acupuncture synchronized rehabilitation ther-apy on upper limb motor function in stroke patients.
Methods From December,2022 to December,2023,144 stroke patients with upper limb motor dysfunction in the Affili-ated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were randomly divided into control,intra-dermal-needle,scalp-acupuncture and acupuncture groups(36 cases repectively).All groups received convention-al treatment and upper limb rehabilitation training,the intradermal-needle group added intradermal-needle thera-py,the scalp-acupuncture group added scalp-acupuncture therapy,and the acupuncture group added both scalp-and intradermal-needle therapies,for four weeks.They were assessed with Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Ex-tremities(FMA-UE),Wolf Motor Function Test(WMFT)and modified Barthel Index(MBI)before and after treatment.Twenty cases were selected randomly from each group,fractional anisotropy(FA)values and ratio of fractional anisotropy(rFA)of the lesion area and the posterior limb of the internal capsule were also measured with diffusion tensor imaging.
Results Two cases dropped out in both the control group and the intradermal-needle group,while one case dropped out in both the scalp-acupuncture group and the acupuncture group.All groups showed significant improvement in FMA-UE,WMFT and MBI scores,as well as in the FA and rFA values of the lesion area and the posterior limb of the internal capsule(t>5.532,P<0.001)after treatment.The acupuncture group demonstrated the greatest pre-to post-treatment differences in FMA-UE scores,lesion-area FA and rFA values,and posterior-limb rFA val-ues compared with the other three groups(|Z|>3.256,P<0.05),and more WMFT and MBI improvements than those of the intradermal-needle group and the control group(|Z|>5.483,P<0.001).A significant interaction ef-fect was observed between intradermal and scalp acupuncture in improving FMA-UE scores(partial η²=0.035,P=0.029).The change in FMA-UE scores was positively correlated with the change in FA values of the posteri-or limb of the internal capsule(r>0.453,P<0.05)across four groups.
Conclusion Scalp combined with intradermal-needle acupuncture synchronized rehabilitation therapy can more effec-tively improve upper-limb motor function in stroke patients,which may associate with the recovery of internal capsule.
Keywords：strokeupper limbmotor functionacupuncture synchronized rehabilitation therapydiffusion tensor imaging
Publication Date：2025-10-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：12( 1194-1205 )