Effect of astragalus injection with acupuncture on ischemic stroke with hemiplegia

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of astragalus injection combined with acupuncture on ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with hemiplegia. Methods A total of 168 patients with AIS hemiplegia were divided into experimental group and control group according to random number table method, with 84 patients in each group. All of the patients were given conventional treatment, including antiplatelet aggregation, rehabilitation training, control blood pressure and blood glucose regulating lipid, etc. The patients in the control group were given acupuncture treatment, once a day, one month for a course, continued for 6 courses. On the basic treatment of the control group, the patients in experimental group were treated with 20 ml astragalus injection plus 250 ml 5% glucose injection by intravenous drip, once a day, one month for a course, continued for 6 courses. The curative effects were evaluated, ADL and Stroke Scale (NIHSS) were used to evaluate the daily living ability and neurological deficits of the patients. The levels of total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were measured and compared. BMD of femur, Ward area and hemiplegic lateral forearm were detected. Results The efficiency of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group, the difference was significant(95.2% vs. 81%, P=0.004). After treatment, the ADL score of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group, the NIHSS score was lower than that of the control group, the differences were significant (P<0.05). The levels of LDL-C, TG and TC of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group, the differences were significant (P<0.05). The BMD of Ward, hemiplegia side femur and hemiplegia side forearm of experimental group were higher than those of control group, the differences were significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Astragalus injection combined with acupuncture treatment for hemiplegia patients with cerebral ischemic stroke, can significantly improve the efficacy, the blood lipid, bone mineral density in patients with hemiplegic side and the ability of daily activities of patients, and it can reduce the neurological functional defect, so it is worthy of clinical application. Key words: Ischemic stroke; Hemiplegia; Astragalus injection