Clinical observation of acupuncture in treating pseudobulbar palsy

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of needling nape acupoints in the treatment of pseudobulbar palsy. Methods: One hundred and twenty cases of pseudobulbar palsy were randomized into two groups, a treatment group in which 60 cases were treated by needling nape acupoints and a control group in which 60 cases were treated by needling tongue acupoints; after one-month treatment, the clinical symptoms and signs were observed. Results: The cure rate and total effective rate were respectively 41.7% and 90.0% in the treatment group, and respectively 26.7% and 81.7% in the control group, with differences in the cure rate and total effective rate between the two groups (P<0.01). Conclusion: Needling nape acupoints is quite effective to treat pseudobulbar palsy in the relief of clini cal symptoms and signs. © 2010 Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.