Objective To observe the clinical effect of electroacupuncture(EA)combined with sitting training for cerebral palsy(CP)children with parafunctional sitting position.Methods A total of 120parafunctional sitting CP child patients were randomly and equally divided into sitting training(control)group and EA plus sitting training(EA)group.The sitting training included assistant-sitting

legs-crossing-sitting

sitting with one-leg extending

long-term sitting

balancing-sitting

chair-climbing

and pron and hand-supporting

twice daily.EA(4Hz

a tolerable strength)was applied to Mingmen(GV 4)

Jizhong(GV 6)

Shenshu(BL 23)

and Pishu(BL 20)for 30min

once daily.Both sitting training and EA treatment were conducted 5times a week and continuously for a month.Twenty-items of sitting functions(0-3point scaling)of Gross Motor Function Measure(GMFM)were used to evaluate the infantile patients' motor function and Nimodipine-method was employed to assess the curative effect.Results The sitting function scores were significantly increased in both control and EA groups compared with pre-treatment in the same one group(P<0.01)

and were apparently higher in the EA group than in the control group(P<0.05)

suggesting a better therapeutic effect of EA plus sitting training.EA plus sitting training intervention was better for the spastic and hypotonic patterns of CP patients than the other patterns in the therapeutic effect(P<0.01).Of the two 60cases of CP children in the control and EA groups

20(33.33%)and 22(36.67%)experienced marked improvement

24(40.00%)and 30(50.00%)were effective

and 16(26.67%)and 8(13.33%)failed

with the effective rates being 73.33% and 86.67% respectively.Conclusion Acupuncture intervention combined with sitting training is better than sitting training intervention alone in improving cerebral palsy children with parafunctional sitting position

especially for the spastic and hypotonic CP patients.