Electroacupuncture combined with Western medication improves lower-limb motor function and blood circulation in patients with cerebral infarction-induced hemiplegia in acute stage: a clinical study

To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with Western medication on lower-limb motor function and blood circulation in patients with cerebral infarction-induced hemiplegia in the acute stage.

One hundred eligible patients with acute ischemic stroke accompanied by lower-limb motor dysfunction were allocated to an observation group and a control group using the random number table method, with 50 cases in each group. The control group received routine Western medications for treatment, and the observation group received additional EA intervention. After 2-week and 4-week treatments, the improvement of lower-limb motor function was assessed using the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale for lower extremity (FMA-LE), and changes in the peak blood flow velocities of the posterior tibial (PT) and dorsalis pedis (DP) arteries on the affected side were detected using Doppler.

Three cases dropped out during the study, so there were 48 cases in the observation group and 49 in the control group collected for statistical analysis. The FMA-LE score and the peak blood flow velocities of PT and DP arteries increased after 2-week and 4-week treatments in both groups compared with the pre-treatment baseline (P<0.05). After 2-week treatments, the FMA-LE score and the peak blood flow velocities of PT and DP arteries showed no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). After 4-week treatments, compared with the control group, the FMA-LE score was higher (P<0.05), and the peak blood flow velocities of PT and DP arteries on the affected side were larger in the observation group (P<0.05).

EA combined with Western medication can significantly improve the motor function and blood flow velocity of the affected lower limb in patients with acute cerebral infarction accompanied by hemiplegia.