Effects of acupuncture on nervous function in the patient of extensive cerebral infarction after operation

Objective To find a better therapy for extensive cerebral infarction.Methods Sixty cases with exten- sive cerebral infarction were treated by surgical decompression.After operation,they were randomly divided into an acupuncture plus medication group and a medication group,30 cases in each group.The patients in the medication group were treated by routine western medicine,and the patients in the acupuncture plus medication group by the routine western medicine plus acupuncture 2 days after operation with Danzhong (CV 17),Zhongwan (CV 12),Qi- hal (CV 6),Zusanli (ST 36),Xuehai (SP 10) and Shuigou (GV 26) selected.They were treated for 10 days.The nervous functions were assessed by Chinese Stroke Nerve-function Rating Scale and criteria for clinical therapeutic effect.Results After surgical decompression,the death rate was 20.0%;after operation,acupuncture could signif- icantly improve the neurological functional deficit degree of the patient.The total effective rate of 40.0% in the acu- puncture plus medication group was better than 13.3% in the medication group (P0.05).Conclusion The surgi- cal decompression is able to decrease the death rate of extensive cerebral infarction;after the operation,acupuncture and western medicine have cooperative effect on extensive cerebral infarction with a good therapeutic effect.