Integrative medicine rehabilitation for post-stroke limb spasticity: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

And just why the fuck would you be reviewing quackery like  integrative health techniques?

Integrative - Meaning that it is not scientifically proven.

“Integrative medicine”: A brand, not a specialty

From Quackery to “Complementary”Medicine: The American Medical Profession Confronts Alternative Therapies

The latest crapola here:

Integrative medicine rehabilitation for post-strokelimb spasticity: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

Meng Wang¹

Shouguo Liu¹

Zhihang Peng²

Yi Zhu³

Xiaodong Feng⁴

Yihuang Gu⁵

Jianhua Sun⁶

Qiang Tang⁷

Hongxia Chen⁸

Xiaolin Huang⁹

Jun Hu¹⁰

Wei Chen¹¹

Jie Xiang¹²

ChunXiao Wan¹³

Gangqi Fan¹⁴

Jianhu Lu¹⁵

Wenguang Xia¹⁶

Liping Chen¹⁷

Lihua Wang¹⁸

Xiao Lu¹

Jianan Li¹

Email

¹ The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University,

² Nanjing Medical University,

³ The Second Affiliated Hospital of HaiNan Medical University,

⁴ The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,

⁵ Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine,

⁶ Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,

⁷ The Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine,

⁸ Guangdong Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital,

⁹ Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of science & Technology,

¹⁰ Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,

¹¹ Xuzhou Central Hospital,

¹² The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University,

¹³ Tianjin Medical University General Hospital,

¹⁴ Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,

¹⁵ Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine ， Jiangsu,

¹⁶ Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine,

¹⁷ Lianyungang Chinese Medicine Hospital,

¹⁸ Dongguan Kanghua Hospital

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2000448/v1

This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License

Objective: 

This study aimed to determine whether integrative medicine rehabilitation (IMR) that combines conventional rehabilitation (CR) with Tui Na and traditional Chinese external medicine Baimai-ruangao is more effective than CR alone for treatment of post-stroke limb spasticity.

Design:  

We conducted a multicenter randomized controlled intervention trial that involved 16 hospitals in ten cities in China.

Subject:  

444 patients with post-stroke limb spasticity were randomly assigned to an IMR group (n=222) and a CR group (n=222).

Methods:  

Tui Na was performed for patients with post-stroke limb spasticity. Traditional Chinese external medicine Baimai-ruangao as the massage medium was applied on the skin surface. The course of treatment was 1 month. Muscle tone in the spastic muscles (elbow flexors, wrist flexors, finger flexors, knee extensors, ankle plantar flexors) was evaluated using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), and the primary endpoint was the change in MAS score from baseline to 4 weeks.

Results: 

The IMR group had a significantly better reduction in the MAS scores for five muscle groups than the CR group did after 4 weeks of intervention. Improvements were sustained at the 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. Furthermore, patients who had a baseline muscle tone score of 1+ to 4 on the MAS for the affected limb were recommended to receive IMR. No adverse reaction was observed in the IMR group.

Conclusion: 

Conventional rehabilitation combined with IMR is safe and more effective for alleviating post-stroke limb spasticity.