The Efficacy Study of Combined Treatment with dl-3-butylphthalide and Escitalopram in Post-stroke Depression

Objective To investigate the short-term efficacy of combined treatment with dl-3-butylphthalide and escitalopram in post-stroke depression. Methods Patients with post-stroke depression(n=80) were randomly divided into dl-3-butylphthalide and escitalopram group(experimental group, n=40) and single escitalopram group(control group, n=40). The treatment course was 12 weeks. The clinical efficacy was measured by the Hamilton depression scale(HAMD). Results After 12 weeks of treatment, the HAMD score of both groups were better than their scores before treatment with statistically significant difference(P0.01); the effective rate of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group; the difference in effective rate and total HAMD score between the two groups was statistically significant(P0.01). Conclusion The clinical efficacy of dl-3-butylphthalide combined with escitalopram in the treatment of post-stroke depression is more definite than that of single escitalopram.