Efficacy study of acupuncture and moxibustion on dysphagia after stroke

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and moxibustion on dysphagia after stroke.Methods Eighty-two cases with dysphagia after stroke were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group,and 41 cases in each one.On the basis of conventional medical treatment,the treatment group was given comprehensive acupuncture treatment(body acupuncture,eletro-acupuncture,and prick to cause bleeding) combined with swallowing rehabilitation training,whereas the control group was only given swallowing rehabilitation training.3 times a week,once every other day,14 days were required for one course and the total treatment was for 60 days.The efficacy was assessed by Kubota water drinking test and Shima Ichiro swallowing function evaluation criterion at the efficacy evaluation points,14th,28th,42nd,60th days after the beginning of the treatment.Results The total effective rates of the treatment group and the control group were 97.5% and 95.0% respectively,and the cure rate of the treatment group(65.0%) was higher than that of the control group(35.90%),with significant difference(P 0.05).Conclusion The therapy of acupuncture combined with swallowing rehabilitation training has a better effect and higher cure rate than only swallowing rehabilitation training.