Objective To observe the short-term and long-term therapeutic effects of internal heat-type acupuncture needle(IHTAN)therapy combined with acupoint injection of O_3 for post-stroke shoulder pain in apopletic patients.Methods Patients with post-stroke shoulder pain were divided into warm needle moxibustion+ acupoint injection group(29 cases)

acupoint injection group(30 cases)and IHTAN+acupoint injection group(29 cases)according to the random number table.For acupoint injection

O_3 solution(3 mL

30μg/mL)was injected into Jianyu(LI15)

Jianliao(SJ14)

Jianzhen(LI9)

Binao(LI14)and Ashi points(4—6 acupoints every time)on the affected side

once every other day for 4 weeks.For warm needle moxibustion

the above mentioned acupoints were stimulated with filiform needles attached with an ignited moxa-stick

once every other day for 4 weeks.For IHTAN

the internal warmth controllable acupuncture needles were inserted into the above mentioned acupoints on the affected side

and then connected to an internal heat acupuncture apparatus for stimulating the acupoints at 42 ℃

20 min every time

once a week

for 4 weeks.The severity of shoulder pain was assessed by using visual analogue scale(VAS

0-10 points)

the upper limb joint motion function evaluated using Fugl-Meyer assessment scale(FMA

0-66 points)

and the ability of daily living activities(ADL)evaluated using Barthel index(0-100 points)at the ends of the 2 nd and 4 th week as well as the 6 th month after the treatment.If the shoulder pain disappeared or basically disappeared

it was considered to be healed.If the pain was relieved

it was considered to be effective.Otherwise

it was considered to be ineffective.Results At the ends of the 2nd and 4th week as well as the 6th month after the treatment

the VAS scores of the IHTAN+acupoint injection group were significantly lower than those of the warm needle moxibustion+acupoint injection and acupoint injection groups(P<0.05)

and the FMA and ADL scores were significantly higher in the IHTAN+acupoint injection group than in the other two groups(P<0.05).No significant differences were found between the warm needle moxibustion+acupoint injection and the acupoint injection groups in the scores of VAS

FMA and ADL(P>0.05).Of the 29

30 and 29 cases in the warm needle moxibustion+acupoint injection

acupoint injection and IHTNA+acupoint injection groups

1

0 and 7 cases at the 2nd week

3

2 and 12 cases at the 4th week

4

2 and 15 cases at the 6 th month were cured;15

14 and 16 cases at the 2nd week

17

17 and 13 cases at the 4th week

and 18

18 and 12 cases at the 6th month experienced marked improvement;13

16 and 6 cases at the 2nd week

9

11 and 4 cases at the 4th week

7

10 and 2 cases at the 6th month had no apparent changes in their shoulder pain severity

with the total effective rates at the 4th week and 6th month being 68.97% and 75.86%

63.33% and 66.60%

and 86.21% and 93.10%

respectively.Conclusion The internal heat-type acupuncture needle therapy combined with O_3 acupoint injection has obvious short-term and long-term therapeutic effects for post-stroke shoulder pain and is obviously superior to warm needle moxibustion+ acupoint injection and simple acupoint injection in relieving shoulder pain and improving upper limb motion function.