| Objective: To explore the short-term effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) as an appropriate community-based technique on hand and upper limb function rehabilitation in stroke patients. Methods: Sixty stroke patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group (n=30) and the control group (n=30). All patients received routine community rehabilitation training, and the treatment group received additional treatment of TEAS. All patients were assessed with Manual Muscle Test (MMT) of wrist, Modified Ashworth scale (MAS) of wrist and elbow, Fugl-Meyer Assessment of upper extremities (FMA-UE), National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) and Modified Barthel Index (MBI) before and 6 weeks after treatment. Results: After 6 weeks of treatment, palmar flexion and dorsiflexor muscle strength scores in both groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (all P<0.05), and those in treatment group were significantly higher than in control group; the elbow muscle tone scores were significantly lower in treatment groups than before treatment and control group (all P<0.05), and the wrist muscle tone scores in treatment group were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). After 6 weeks of treatment, FMA-UE total scores, FMA scores of wrist and hand, and MBI scores in both groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (all P<0.05), and those in treatment group were higher than control group (P<0.05); NIHSS scores were significantly reduced in both groups as compared with those before treatment (P<0.05),and there was no siginificant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: TEAS is an effective and appropriate community-based technique in the treatment of paralytic hand and upper limbs in the short-term. |
