Clinical effect of myofascial release combined with acupuncture in treatment of lower limb spasticity after stroke

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of myofascial release combined with acupuncture in the treatment of lower limb spasticity after stroke.Methods A totalof 45 patients with lower limb spasticity after stroke were enrolled and randomly divided into control group with 22 patients and experimental group with 23 patients. The patients in the control group were given acupuncture alone，and those in the experimental group were given myofascial release combined with acupuncture. After 6 weeks of treatment，the two groups were compared in terms of the clinical effect of rehabilitation and the changes in related indicators. Modified Ashworth Scale（MAS） was used to evaluate the muscle tension of knee flexor muscles，and the treatment was considered effective if there was a reduction in MAS score. Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Lower Extremity（FAM-LE） was used to evaluate the motor function of lower limbs，Clinical Spasticity Index（CSI） was used to evaluate the degree of spasticity，and the serum level of homocysteine（Hcy） was measured.Results After treatment，the experimental group had a significantly higher response rate than the control group（P<0.05），and both groups had a significant reduction in the serum level of Hcy and significant increases in FMA-LE and CSI scores（P<0.05）. Compared with the control group，the experimental group had significantly lower MAS score and serum Hcy level and significantly higher FMA-LE and CSI scores（P<0.05）.Conclusion For patients with lower limb spasticity after stroke，myofascial release combined with acupuncture can effectively reduce muscle tension，alleviate spasticity，improve the motor function of lower limbs，and reduce serum Hcy level.