Evaluation of the effectiveness of periocular acupuncture rehabilitation therapy with needle retention for cognitive and motor function recovery in post-stroke patients using the single-group target value method

To evaluate the effectiveness of periocular acupuncture rehabilitation therapy with needle retention (PARNR) for promoting the recovery of cognitive and motor functions in post-stroke patients using the single-group target value method.

A total of 102 post-stroke patients were included (periocular acupuncture rehabilitation group), using a prospective and consecutive collection, and treated with PARNR. Besides conventional medication, the patients received periocular acupuncture at bilateral upper-jiao area, lower-jiao area, liver area and kidney area, once daily, at interval of 2-day after consecutive 5-day intervention. The treatment for 4 weeks was required. Before and after treatment, and in follow-up 12 weeks after treatment completion, the scores of mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA), Fugl-Meyer assessment scale (FMA) and modified Barthel index (MBI) were evaluated separately. The comparison was performed for the target values of the therapeutic effect between traditional acupuncture and moxibustion (acupuncture and moxibustion group) and conventional rehabilitation (conventional rehabilitation group). The target values were derived from the Meta-analysis with the highest evidence level in the same category.

At each time point before and after treatment, the scores of MMSE, MoCA, FMA and MBI in the periocular acupuncture rehabilitation group showed the time effect (P<0.001, P<0.01), and the scores were increasing over time. Regarding the improvements in cognitive function, the target value method revealed that the MMSE score was not statistically different (P>0.05), the MoCA score was lower in the periocular acupuncture rehabilitation group after treatment (P<0.01); and the MMSE score was higher (P<0.01), and the MoCA score was not statistically different (P>0.05) in the follow-up, compared with the target values in the acupuncture and moxibustion group. For the improvements in motor function, when compared with the target values in the acupuncture and moxibustion group, the scores of FMA and MBI were lower after treatment (P<0.001); the FMA score was not different statistically (P>0.05) and the MBI score was higher (P<0.05) in the follow-up in the periocular acupuncture rehabilitation group. After treatment and in follow-up, except for the FMA, MBI scores after treatment, the above outcomes in the periocular acupuncture rehabilitation group were all superior to the target values in the conventional rehabilitation group (P<0.001).

The periocular acupuncture rehabilitation therapy with needle retention is comparable to traditional acupuncture and moxibustion in improving post-stroke cognitive and motor functions and superior to conventional rehabilitation therapy.