Contralateral needling at unblocked collaterals for hemiplegia following acute ischemic stroke

Hemiplegia caused by stroke indicates dysfunction of the network between the brain and limbs, namely collateral shock in the brain. Contralateral needling is the insertion of needles into acupoints on the relative healthy side of the body to treat diseases such as apoplexy. However, there is little well-designed and controlled clinical evidence for this practice. This study investigated whether contralateral needling could treat hemiplegia after acute ischemic stroke in 106 randomly selected patients with acute ischemic stroke. These patients were randomly assigned to three groups: 45 in the contralateral needling group, receiving acupuncture on the unaffected limbs; 45 in the tional acupuncture group, receiving acupuncture on the hemiplegic limbs; and 16 in the control group, receiving routine treatments without acupuncture. Acupuncture at acupoints Chize (LU5) in the upper limb and Jianliao (TE14) in the lower limb was performed for 45 minutes daily for 30 consecutive days. The therapeutic effective rate, Neurological Deficit Score, Modified Barthel Index and Fugl-Meyer Assessment were evaluated. The therapeutic effective rate of contralateral needling was higher than that of conventional acupuncture (46.67% vs. 31.11%, P < 0.05). The neurological deficit score of contralateral needling was significantly decreased compared with conventional acupuncture (P < 0.01). The Modified Barthel Index and Fugl-Meyer Assessment score of contralateral needling increased more significantly than those of conventional acupuncture (both P < 0.01). The present findings suggest that contralateral needling unblocks collaterals and might be more effective than conventional acupuncture in the treatment of hemiplegia following acute ischemic stroke.