A literature review of an ancient science with modern implications : the effectiveness of acupuncture in stroke rehabilitation

Abstract

Stroke is the number one cause of mortality and morbidity. However, thus who survive stroke, make up the largest group of patients needing rehabilitation therapy. Albeit, more than of stroke survivors remain with some degree of impairment, conventional stroke rehabilitation therapy is a very important role in motor function recovery. Several studies suggest that acupuncture might be beneficial in post-stroke rehabilitation. The aim of this dissertation is to explore the use of alternative care, such as acupuncture, in an attempt to further improve the therapeutic effect in stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation, who possess motor impairment. Moreover, the objective of this dissertation is to carry out a literature review involving evidence based studies such as randomized control trials (RCTs), which revolve around the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for stroke rehabilitation. Research question: Do the addition of acupuncture result in improved motor function, in adults undergoing conventional stroke rehabilitation therapy? A literature search was conducted on HyDi, via the University of Malta Library to identify the available and relevant research evidence in order to answer the proposed research question. Included studies were limited to papers written in English, which were published between 2002 and 2017 and addressed acupuncture in addition to conventional stroke therapy in adults who suffer from stroke. Studies addressing acupuncture and conventional stroke therapy but focusing on other outcomes rather than motor function restriction were excluded. Search outcome: Eight RCTs studies met the inclusion criteria. Method of appraisal: To critically appraise the selected studies, the CASP tool for randomised control trials with an additional checklist was used. Results: Findings from these studies imply that both WM and TCM (include full terms here followed by the abbreviations as it is the first time being mentioned in text) treatments separately are significantly effective in improving sensorimotor function restrictions. However, the addition of acupuncture to conventional stroke therapy is effective but not significantly. Conclusion: Findings shows that acupuncture is effective as conventional stroke therapy in improving sensorimotor function restrictions. Implications: 1. Raising awareness of the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy post-stroke rehabilitation; 2. Detecting gaps in the currently available studies; 3. Encouraging the goal of stroke rehabilitation, which is to enable the survivor to achieve maximal potential by utilising all available resources.