[Auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet combined with catheter balloon dilatation in treatment of post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction: a randomized controlled trial].

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy on post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction treated with auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet combined with catheter balloon dilatation, and the effect on the adverse reaction during catheter balloon dilatation and the patients' quality of life.

Methods: A total of 106 patients with post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction were randomly divided into an observation group (53 cases, 3 cases dropped off, 1 case excluded) and a control group (53 cases, 5 cases dropped off). The catheter balloon dilatation was provided in the control group, once a day. In the observation group, on the base of the treatment as the control group, auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet was added. Before catheter balloon dilatation, the magnetic pellet was pressed at Yanhou (TG), Xin (CO), Naogan (AT), etc. These auricular points were pressed 5 min, as well as in every morning and evening for another 5 min, totally 3 times a day. The auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet was applied on the ears alternatively each time, once every 3 days. One session treatment contained 6 days and 4 sessions of treatment were required in both groups. Before and after treatment, the scores of standardized swallowing assessment (SSA), Rosenbek penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) and swallowing quality of life (SWAL-QOL) were observed in both groups. Separately, on day 1 (T1) of treatment, in 2 weeks into treatment (T2) and on the last day of treatment (T3), the score of visual analogue scale (VAS) was recorded in both groups. The incidence of nausea and vomiting and the clinical efficacy were compared between the two groups.

Results: After treatment, SSA and PAS scores were reduced (<0.05) and SWAL-QOL scores were increased (<0.05) in both groups compared with those before treatment, and the changes in the observation group were larger than those in the control group (<0.05). At T2 and T3, VAS scores were lower than those at T1 in both groups (<0.05), while VAS score at each time point in the observation group was lower than that of the control group (<0.05). The incidence of nausea and vomiting in the observation group was 51.0% (25/49), lower than the control group (79.2%, 38/48, <0.05). The total effective rate was 95.9% (47/49) in the observation group, better than the control group (87.5%, 42/48, <0.05).

Conclusion: Auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet combined with catheter balloon dilatation effectively improve the swallowing function, relieve the discomforts during the dilatation and promote the quality of life in patients with post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction.