Clinical Observations on Acupuncture at Huatuojiaji Points for the Treatment of Post-stroke Hemiplegic Spasticity

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture at cervical and lumbar Huatuojiaji points in treating post-stroke spasticity. Methods Sixty patients with stroke hemiplegia were randomly allocated to a treatment group of 30 cases and a control group of 30 cases. The treatment group received acupuncture at cervical and lumbar Huatuojiaji points plus conventional acupuncture and the control group,conventional acupuncture only. One course of treatment consisted of 10 days. Treatment was given for a total of 4 weeks. Results Spasticity improved more in the treatment group than in the control group (P0.05). Motor function and self-care ability improved obviously in both groups and there were no statistically significant differences (P0.05). Conclusion The results indicate that acupuncture at cervical and lumbar Huatuojiaji points has a distinctive advantage in reducing spasticity.