Abstract:

Objective

The aim of this study was to discuss effects of acupuncture on movement，intelligence and cranial nerve functional recovery in children with cerebral palsy.

Methods

A total of 300 cases of children（aged 1～5 years）with cerebral palsy were treated using acupuncture，and with physical therapy，occupational therapy，speech therapy and other therapies. Gesell's Developmental Scale and the Gross Motor Function Measure（GMFM） were used to assess mental and physical activities in patients before and 3-month after treatment. The situation of children with brain repair was detected by cranial CT/MRI before and after treatment. SPSS 13.0 statistical software was used for data processing. Scores of Gesell and GMFM line（A，B，C）before and after the treatment were analyzed by normality test. The normal distribution was represented by . The median plus or minus quartile statistical description of（M±Q）was used for GMFM（D，E）. P＜0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

The curative effect of clinical rehabilitation，42 cases were markedly improved（14%），148 cases（49.3%）improved，110 cases（36.7%）invalid，and the total effective rate was 63.3%（190/300）. There were significant differences in the scores of Gesell including Developmental Quotient（DQ），gross motor DQ，language DQ，fine motor DQ and personal social DQ，before and after treatment in patients（t＝11.53，6.73 and 9.69，9.43，P＜0.05）. After treatment GMFM rating scales of A，B，C and D were significantly increased compared with the previous（t＝17.09，12.73 and 5.2，Z＝4.50，P＜0.05）. There was no significant difference in E score before and after treatment（Z＝1.81，P＞0.05）. Results of cranial CT/MRI showed that lesions returned to normal in 22 cases（8.2%），improvement in 159 cases（59.1%）and no obvious changes in 88 cases（32.7%）. The effective rate was 67.2%（181/269）.

Conclusion

Acupuncture can promote movement and intellectual development of cerebral palsy，and can help cranial nerve repair in children with cerebral palsy.

Key words: Acupuncture therapy, Cerebral palsy, Rehabilitation