Acupuncture of fascia points to relieve hand spasm after stroke: a study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: The loss of life ability of patients after stroke is mostly caused by the dysfunction of upper limbs, especially hands. Hand functional exercise is the premise of alleviating hand dysfunction, and the relief of hand spasm is the basis of timely and effective hand functional exercise. Previous clinical observation showed that fascial point needling could effectively alleviate hand spasm immediately after stroke, but further evidence from large sample studies is needed. The overall

Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for post-stroke spasticity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The average age of the patients ranged from 50 to 78. A total of 38 studies ( 31 , 47 , 48 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 62 , 63 , 66 , 67 , 69 , 71 – 76 , 79 , 80 , 82 , 83 , 88 – 90 , 92 – 94 , 99 – 101 , 104 , 107 , 110 , 112 – 114 ) included patients who suffered from stroke for the first time. The duration of stroke ranged from 2 weeks to 1 year.…”

“…In addition, 19 studies ( 35 , 40 , 41 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 51 , 52 , 61 , 65 , 67 , 68 , 70 , 77 , 85 , 100 , 108 , 109 , 116 ) recruited patients with cerebral ischemia and 1 study ( 84 ) focused on cerebral hemorrhage; the rest studies included patients with ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. A total of 41 studies ( 33 , 36 , 38 , 39 , 41 – 43 , 45 , 49 , 53 – 57 , 59 , 61 , 65 – 67 , 70 – 73 , 78 , 80 , 82 , 87 , 88 , 90 , 96 , 97 , 100 – 102 , 104 – 106 , 108 , 110 , 116 ) observed spasticity of upper limbs, 25 studies ( 31 , 32 , 44 , 47 , 51 , 62 – 64 , 68 , 77 , 79 , 81 , 83 , 84 , 86 , 89 , 91 , 93 ...…”

“…The remaining studies applied fixed acupoint protocol. A total of 54 studies ( 31 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 40 – 45 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 54 , 58 , 59 , 61 – 63 , 66 , 67 , 71 , 75 , 78 – 80 , 83 – 86 , 88 , 90 , 92 – 98 , 101 – 103 , 105 – 109 , 111 , 113 – 116 ) emphasized De qi , which was a unique needling sensation and was essential for clinical efficacy ( 119 ).…”

“…The summary of risk of bias is presented in Figure 4 , and the graph of risk of bias is provided in Supplementary File 3 (Supplementary Figure S1 ). Due to no blinding of outcome assessors, deviations from intended interventions, and missing outcome data, the overall risk of bias of 66 studies ( 31 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 39 – 46 , 48 – 53 , 55 , 57 – 59 , 61 – 65 , 67 – 70 , 73 – 79 , 81 , 83 , 85 , 86 , 89 , 91 – 94 , 96 , 97 , 99 , 101 – 103 , 105 – 112 , 114 – 118 ) was evaluated as “high risk of bias,” and because of selective reporting results (no protocol), 22 studies ( 32 , 33 , 36 , 38 , 47 , 54 , 56 , 60 , 66 , 71 , 72 , 80 , 82 , 84 , 87 , 88 , 90 , 95 , 98 , 100 , 104 , 113 ) were categorized as “some concerns.”…”

“…Two trials ( 88 , 90 ) reported that acupuncture was more effective than sham acupuncture in relieving spasticity. There was ( 92 , 101 ) no significant difference between acupuncture and WM in reducing MAS score.…”