Abstract
Objective : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture on the post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain. Methods : 40 patients with post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain were randomly divided into 2 groups : study group(sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture treatment group, n=21) and Control group(normal saline treatment group, n=19). They were monitored for 4 weeks, followed up with visual analog scale(VAS), pain rating score(PRS), painless passive shoulder range of movement(PROM) and Fugl-Meyer Motor assessment(FMMA) at before treatment(T0), after 2 weeks(T2) and after 4 weeks(T4). Results : 1. Study group and control group showed pain decrease, but study group showed more significant effectiveness in VAS and PRS than control group. 2. Although there is no significant difference in PROM between study group and control group, both groups showed increase of PROM, and study group had some effectiveness on abduction and flexion as the treatment progresses. 3. There is no significant difference in FMMA between study group and control group. Conclusions : This study suggests that sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture has significant analgesic effect on the post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain. And it seems that sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture can be applicable to improve PROM in hemiplegia patients with stroke. Further studies based on larger population and long term follow-up are needed to confirm this suggestion.