Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of heat-reinforcing needling combined with modem rehabilitation training on the motor function of ischemic stroke patients.Methods Fifty cases of ischemic stroke patients were randomly divided into rehabilitation(Rehab

n=40)and acupuncture(Acup)+Rehab(n=40)groups.Heat-reinforcing needling was applied to Jianyu(LI 15)

Quchi(LI 11)

Hegu(LI 14)

Zusanli(ST 36)

Yanglingquan(GB 34)

Yinlingquan(SP 9)and Sanyinjiao(SP 6)

once daily for 3 weeks.Rehabilitation training including healthy limb and joint movement was conducted

once daily for 3 weeks.The patient's neurological impairment degree and the motor function(Fugl-Meyer index)were evaluated before and after the treatment.Results After the treatment

of the each 40 cases in Rehab and Acup+Rehab groups

10(25.0%)and 17(42.5%)experienced marked improvement in their symptoms

17(42.5%)and 18(45.0%)had improvement

13(32.5%)and 5(12.5%)failed

with the effective rates being 67.5% and 87.5% respectively.The therapeutic effect of Acup+Rehab group was markedly superior to that of Rehab group(P<0.05).Comparison between two groups showed no significant differences in the scores of clinical neurological impairment degree and the scores of Fugl-Meyer index before the treatment(P>0.05).After the treatment

the scores of neurological impairment degree of two groups both decreased significantly(P<0.05)

and the scores of the Fugl-Meyer index of the upper and lower limbs increased significantly in two groups(P<0.05).The score of neurological impairment degree of Acup+Rehab group was significantly lower than that of Rehab group(P<0.05)

while the scores of the Fugl-Meyer index of two limbs of Acup+Rehab group were obviously higher than those of Rehab group(P<0.01).Conclusion The therapy of heat-reinforcing needling combined with rehabilitation training is significantly superior to that of simple rehabilitation training in improving neurological impairment and motor function of ischemic stroke patients.