Bee venom acupuncture point injection for central post stroke pain: A preliminary single-blind randomized controlled trial. 


Author: Cho SY, Park JY, Jung WS, Moon SK, Park JM, Ko CN, Park SU.

Affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Neurology of Korean Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 
Conference/Journal: Complement Ther Med.
Date published: 2013 Jun
Other:
 Volume ID: 21   ,  Issue ID: 3   ,  Pages: 155-7   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2013.02.001   ,  Word Count: 160  
    

OBJECTIVE:

We investigated apipuncture, or acupuncture point injection with diluted bee venom, as a promising new treatment for central post stroke pain (CPSP).

METHODS:

Bee venom, diluted to 0.005% in normal saline, was administered to the treatment group, and normal saline given to control group as twice-weekly injections for three weeks. The points were LI15, GB21, LI11, GB31, ST36 and GB39 of the affected side and the amount of injection was 0.05ml at each point.

RESULTS:

Eight patients in each group were included in the analysis. After three weeks there were significant decreases in visual analogue pain scores compared with baseline in both groups and the treatment group improved more significantly than the control group (p=0.009).

CONCLUSION:

Apipuncture significantly improved CPSP in this pilot trial. Further studies of its mechanisms and a larger and long-term follow-up trial will be needed to determine more definitely the efficacy of apipuncture and to elucidate duration of improvement.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PMID: 23642945