Comparative study of Acupuncture, Bee Venom Acupuncture and Bee Venom Herbal Acupuncture on the treatment of Post-stroke Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain

Objective : This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of Acupuncture, Bee Venom Acupuncture (BVA) and Bee Venom Herbal Acupuncture (BVHA) on post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain. Methods : 30 patients were randomly allocated into Acupuncture group, BVA group and BVHA group and was monitored weekly for 4 weeks; initial(T-0), 1 week(T-1), 2 weeks(T-2), 3 weeks(T-3) and 4 weeks(T-4). Results : Visual analogue scale of shoulder pain showed significant decrease in BVA and BVHA groups compared to the Acupuncture group at 14 evaluation. Painless passive RUM of shoulder external rotation and Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment of Upper Limb motor function showed significant increase in all groups. Modified Ashworth scale of the spasticity of upper limb showed no differences between the three groups. Conclusion : BVA & BVHA appears tu be an effective in treating post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain. Further clinical studies must be done to obtain more concrete findings.