Effects of Contralateral Both Side Acupuncture on NIH Scale in Stroke Patients

건측 위주의 양측자침이 뇌졸중 환자의 NIH Scale상의 기능 회복에 미치는 영향

Objective : In order to study the effect of contralateral both side acupuncture on recovery of motor disorders in stroke patients, a clinical study was performed. Methods : Thirteen patients with post-stroke hemiplegia were randomized into two groups. Six patients (test group) were treated with contralateral both side acupuncture. The other seven patients (control group) were treated with ipsilateral both side acupuncture. The activity of daily living was measured with a National Institutes of Health (NIH) scale. The therapy was performed once a day for 3 weeks. Results : In terms of score of NIH, the test group showed statistically meaningful increase after I weeks treatment, while the control group showed statistically meaningful increase after 2 weeks (P<0.05). The results showed no statistically meaningful difference after 3 weeks treatment between the groups. Conclusions : These results support that contralateral both side acupuncture therapy has almost the same effectiveness compared with ipsilateral both side acupuncture therapy in improvement of the activity of daily living of post-stroke hemiplegic patients.