CLINICAL OBSERVATION ON THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF ACUPUNCTURE OF JIAJI (EX-B2) IN THE TREATMENT OF APOPLECTIC SPASTIC HEMIPLEGIA

Objective: To compare the therape utic effects of acupuncture of different acupoints in the treatment of spast ic hemiplegia of apoplexy. Methods: Eighty stro ke patients with spastic hemiplegia were evenly randomized into control grou p and treatment group. Forty cases of treatment group were given with acupun cture of Jiaji (夹脊 EX-B2) from T1 to L5, while forty cases of control gro up were treated with conventional acupoints as Jianyu (肩NFDA1 LI 15), Quchi (曲池 LI 11), Huantiao (环跳 GB 30), Zusanli (足三里 ST 36), Kunlun (昆仑 BL 60), etc. o n the diseased side, once daily, with 10 sessions being one therapeutic course, and 3 courses all together. The modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and neurological d eficit grading scale (NDS) were used as the indexes to assess the therapeutic ef fects. Results: After treatment, the scores of NDS of both treat ment and control groups reduced and the difference value between post- and pre-treatment of tr ea tment group was significantly bigger than that of control group. MAS showed a si milar tendency in both groups. Of the 40 cases in treatment and control groups, 6 and 1 were cured, 20 and 15 had marked improvement, 9 and 11 had improvement, 4 and 8 failed, 1 and 5 got worse, with the total effective rates being 87.5% an d 67.5% respectively. The therapeutic effect of treatment group was significantl y superior to that of control group (P<0.01). Conc lusion: Acupuncture of Jiaji ( EX-B2) is superior to acupuncture of conventional acupoints in alleviating the state of spastic hemiplegia of apoplexy.

Effects of electroacupuncture combined with hydrogel on the formation and changes in the glial scar in rats with spinal cord injury

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture(EA) combined with oriented conductive bioprotein hydrogel(OCBH) on the recovery of nerve function in rats with complete spinal cord injury(SCI)and to explore its effect and mechanism on the formation and changes of glial scars.Methods: A total of 72 female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into groups according to the treatment received. A rat model of complete SCI was constructed using a spinal cord transection.Behavioral assessments, hematoxylin-eosin(H&E) staining, immunofluorescence staining, and Western blotting were performed at a fixed period after the operation.Results: The material group and the material + EA group obtained better results in the behavioral assessments(all P <.05) and the H&E staining. In the immunofluorescence staining and Western blotting,the GFAP protein was expressed more and denser in the material group and the material + EA group than in the model group, and the density of the GFAP expression in the material + EA group was lower at week 12 than in the material group(all P <.05). The expression of complement C3 in the model, material,and material + EA groups decreased in turn. Some inflammatory factors and the NF-κB signaling pathway showed similar results in the Western blotting(all P <.05). The expression of the GDNF protein in the material + EA group was significantly higher than that in the model group and the material group(both P <.01).Conclusion: EA combined with OCBH can promote the recovery of motor functions after SCI by facilitating the formation of glial scars in the early stage, preventing the further spread of an inflammatory response that would affect the activation of A1/A2 astrocytes and change the morphology of glial scars at the spinal cord-material interface in its late stage.

Wet Cupping Therapy Improves Local Blood Perfusion and Analgesic Effects in Patients with Nerve-Root Type Cervical Spondylosis

Objective： To observe wet cupping therapy（WCT） on local blood perfusion and analgesic effects in patients with nerve-root type cervical spondylosis（NT-CS）. Methods： Fifty-seven NT-CS patients were randomly divided into WCT group and Jiaji acupoint-acupuncture（JA） group according a random number table. WCT group（30 cases） was treated with WCT for 10 min, and JA group（27 cases） was treated with acupuncture for 10 min. The treatment efficacies were evaluated with a Visual Analogue Scale（VAS）. Blood perfusion at Dazhui（GV 14） and Jianjing（GB 21） acupoints（affected side） was observed with a laser speckle flowmetry, and its variations before and after treatment in both groups were compared as well. Results： In both groups, the VAS scores significantly decreased after the intervention（P〈0.01）, while the blood perfusion at the two acupoints significantly increased after intervention（P〈0.05）; however, the increasement magnitude caused by WCT was obvious compared with JA（P〈0.05）. Conclusion： WCT could improve analgesic effects in patients with NT-CS, which might be related to increasing local blood perfusion of acupunct points.

A Clinical Observation of Functional Abdominal Pain Syndrome in Patients Treated by Traditional Chinese Spinal Orthopedic Manipulation

Objective： To evaluate the clinical effect of traditional Chinese spinal orthopedic manipulation（TCSOM） in treating patients with functional abdominal pain syndrome（FAPS） in comparison with Pinaverium Bromide（Dicetel, PBD）, and to assess a possible cause for FAPS. Methods： Eighty patients with FAPS were randomly and equally assigned to the TCSOM group and PBD group according to the random number table. All patients in the TCSOM group were treated with a maximum of 5 times of spinal manipulations. Patients in the PBD group were instructed to take 50 mg 3 times a day, consistently for 2 weeks. The symptoms of pre-and post-treatment were assessed on a visual analog scale（VAS） pain score. A symptom improvement rating（SIR） was implemented to evaluate the effects of the treatments. Results： The symptoms of 27 cases of the TCSOM group were relieved soon after the first TCSOM treatment and 9 cases were significantly improved. The VAS pain scores in the TCSOM group were significantly lower than those in the PBD group after 2 weeks treatment. According to the SIR based on VAS, the TCSOM group included 30 cases with excellent results, 7 cases with good, and 3 cases with poor. Adverse events to the treatment were not reported. Based on VAS, the PBD group reported 8 cases with excellent results, 10 cases with good and 22 cases with poor. There was a significant difference between the two groups（P〈0.01）. Conclusions： The displacement of intervertebral discs and/or vertebra in the thoracic or lumbar region seems to be a contributing factor in the symptoms of FAPS. TCSOM is an effective treatment for FAPS.