Tongguan Liqiao
acupuncture therapy has been shown to effectively treat
dysphagia after
stroke-based
pseudobulbar paralysis. We presumed that this
therapy would be effective for
dysphagia after
bulbar paralysis in patients with
brainstem infarction. Sixty-four patients with
dysphagia following
brainstem infarction were recruited and divided into a medulla oblongata
infarction group (n = 22), a midbrain and pons
infarction group (n = 16), and a multiple
cerebral infarction group (n = 26) according to their magnetic resonance imaging results. All patients received
Tongguan Liqiao acupuncture for 28 days. The main
acupoints were Neiguan (
PC6), Renzhong (DU26), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Fengchi (GB20), Wangu (GB12), and Yifeng (SJ17). Furthermore, the posterior pharyngeal wall was pricked. Before and
after treatment, patient swallowing functions were evaluated with the Kubota Water Test, Fujishima Ichiro Rating Scale, and the Standard Swallowing Assessment. The Barthel Index was also used to evaluate their quality of life. Results showed that after 28 days of treatment, scores on the Kubota Water Test and Standard Swallowing Assessment had decreased, but scores on the Fujishima Ichiro Rating Scale and Barthel Index had increased in each group. The total efficacy rate was 92.2%
after treatment, and was most obvious in patients with medulla oblongata
infarction (95.9%). These findings suggest that
Tongguan Liqiao
acupuncture therapy can repair the connection of upper motor neurons to the medulla oblongata motor nucleus, promote the recovery of
brainstem infarction, and improve patient's swallowing ability and quality of life.