Therapeutic effects of early rehabilitation training combined with acupuncture for dysphagia after cerebral infarction

Objective To study the clinical therapeutic effects of early rehabilitation training combined with acupuncture on dysphagia after acute cerebral infarction.Methods One hundred patients with dysphagia caused by acute cerebral infarction were randomly divided into 4 groups:a comprehensive treatment group(25 cases,received rehabilitation training,acupuncture and routine medication),a routine drug group(25 cases,routine medication),a rehabilitation group(25 cases,received comprehensive rehabilitation training and routine mediciation)and an acu-puncture group(25 cases,received acupuncture therapy and routine medication).Dysphagia was evaluated with videofluoroscopic swallowing study(VFSS),and the incidence of pneumonia was observed before treatment and at the 14th day after daily treatment. Results After treatment,the VFSS scores of the 4 groups were significantly higher than before treatment,and VFSS scores in the comprehensive treatment group were significantly higher than those in the other groups.The effectiveness rate in the comprehensive treatment group was significantly higher than that in the other three groups.and the incidence of pneumonia was significantly lower.Conclusions Early rehabilitation com-bined with acupuncture can improve swallowing and reduce the incidence of aspiration pneumonia in acute stroke pa-tients. Key words: Cerebral infarction; Dysphagia;  Rehabilitation;  Acupuncture