Clinical Observations on Fire Needle Acupuncture at Muscular Attachments for the Treatment of Post-stroke Shoulder-hand Syndrome

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of fire needle acupuncture at muscular attachments in treating post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.Method Seventy patients meeting the inclusion criteria were allocated,in order of visits,to treatment and control groups.The treatment group received fire needle acupuncture at muscular attachments once every other day,10 times as a course of treatment and the control group,conventional acupuncture once daily,10 times as a course of treatment.Pains in the affected upper limb were scored using the Visual Analog Scale(VAS),shoulder joint mobility was measured(ROM measurements),and the simplified Fugl-Meyer Assessment score and the edema score were counted in the patients before and after treatment.Result There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the VAS score,ROM,the simplified Fugl-Meyer Assessment score and the edema score in the treatment and control groups.There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the VAS score,ROM and the edema score between the two groups(P0.01) and the effects were better in the treatment group than in the control group.There was no statistically significant post-treatment difference in the simplified Fugl-Meyer Assessment score between the two groups(P0.05).Conclusion Fire needle acupuncture at muscular attachments can effectively relieve pains in the affected shoulder joint,improve glenohumeral abduction(elevation) and reduce edema in the affected upper limb in patients with post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.