The Effects of Bee Venom Acupunture Therapy on Shoulder Pain Patients in Stroke Sequelae

봉약침이 중풍후유증으로 인한 견비통에 미치는 치료 효과에 관한 연구

Objective : The aim of this study is to investigate the curative effect of Bee Venom Acupuncture Therapy for pain and limited R.O.M (range of motion) of shoulder in stroke patients. Methods : The subjects of this study were 6 patients with shoulder pain in stroke sequelae. Routine Oriental Medical programs (Acupunture, moxibustion, herbal medicine and physical therapy) were maintained for each subject throughout this study. Single subject ABABAB design was adopted. Each period was 4 days as a rule. Only during the treatment period, Bee Venom Acupuncture Therapy was provided as intervention at the acupoints of LI15(Gyeonu),　TE14(Gyeollyo), GB21(Gyeonjeong), LI14(Bino). The change of pain was measured with a Visual Analogue Scale(VAS). The pain threshold was measured using pressure algometer at the same acupoints where Bee Venom Acupuncture Therapy was provided. And the R.O.M of shoulder joint (flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, external rotation, internal rotation) was measured as well. Analysis was performed by Bayesian analysis using WinBUGS for the comparison of treatment(Bee Venom Acupuncture Therapy) and non-treatment. Results : The median overall improvement for difference in VAS was -2.219(-3.213, -1.175), for difference in external rotation of shoulder R.O.M was 9.992(-2.298, 18.49), for difference in tenderness score of LI14(Bino) by pressure algometer was 5.05(0.6283, 7.762). 95% credibility intervals being shown in brackets. However, the median overall improvement for difference in the other measurements was not significant. Conclusion : This study suggests that Bee Venom Therapy may be applicable to decrease pain and improve R.O.M of shoulder in hemiplegia patients with stroke. Further elaborated single subject designs need to be accumulated to confirm the effects of Bee Venom Acupunture Therapy on shoulder pain in patients with stroke sequelae.