Session Information
Session Title: AA 2021 Virtual Posters - Neurological Rehabilitation
Session Time: None. Available on demand.
Disclosures: Mariyam Wasay, DO: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: Evaluate the effect of acupuncture by measuring amplitude of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (sTMS) on acute stroke patients with flaccid hemiparesis in an inpatient rehabilitation setting.
Design: Patients with acute hemiplegic stroke within 5-15 days were selected in a randomized controlled trial. The experimental group received 5 daily consecutive acupuncture sessions of approximately 45 minutes duration in addition to 3 hours of regular therapy. The control group only received 3 hours of regular therapy daily. Both control and experimental groups received 2 sessions of sTMS. The initial session took place prior to the treatment and there was an interval of 5 days between each session. sTMS was given at an intensity of 120% of the motor threshold. The MEPs were measured with EMG of the abductor pollicis brevis and mean of the amplitudes of 10 pulses was calculated for both sessions.Setting : Inpatient rehabilitation unitParticipants : Acute (within 5-15 days) hemiplegic stroke patients
Interventions: Five daily consecutive acupuncture treatments, 45 min/session.
Main Outcome Measures: MEPs elicited by sTMS
Results: The total cohort included 19 subjects, 9 were randomized in the study group and 10 in the control group. The study group’s MEP average is 1073.9 mV with stdev of 339.6 prior, 1117.7 mV with stdev of 131.18 after, change is 43.77 mV. The control group’s MEP average is 1092.9.0 mV with stdev of 169.15 prior, 1133.1 mV with stdev 203.72 after, change is 40.20. A 2 sample t-Test was performed to compare both groups and was not statistically significant, P= 0.97.Conclusions: The difference between MEPs elicited by sTMS in the acupuncture group compared with the control group is not significant. A larger sample size is necessary to fully evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture stimulation on neuroplasticity in stroke patients. This pilot study shows the feasibility of this study in acute inpatient rehabilitation.
Level of Evidence: Level III
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Wasay M, Faridi N, Birney BR. Using sTMS to Evaluate Acupuncture Effect on Acute Stroke Patients: Pilot Study [abstract]. PM R. 2021; 13(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/using-stms-to-evaluate-acupuncture-effect-on-acute-stroke-patients-pilot-study/. Accessed May 29, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2021
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/using-stms-to-evaluate-acupuncture-effect-on-acute-stroke-patients-pilot-study/