Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture(EA) combined with cupping at the lumbo-back on post-stroke fatigue.Methods A total of 128 cases of post-stroke fatigue patients were randomly divided into EA+cupping group and medication group

with 64 cases in each group.EA(20 Hz

2 mA) was applied to Baihui(GV 20)

Yintang(EX-HN 3)

Shuigou(GV 26)

Hegu(LI 4)

Zusanli(ST 36)

Sanyinjiao(SP 6)

and Taichong(LR 3) for 30 min

once daily for 30 times

and cupping was applied at the patient's lumbo-back region once every two days

and continuously for 5 weeks.Patients of medication group were ordered to take compound aminobutyric acid vitamin E capsule(20 mg

t.i.d

po)

magnesium gluconate solution(10 mL

t.i.d

po)

sertraline hydrochloridetablet(50 mg

qd

po)for 5 weeks.The Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale(SS-QOL) was used to evaluate the patients' energy state.Results After the treatment

the energy scores of SS-QOL of both EA+cupping and medication groups were increased significantly in comparison with the pre-treatment in each group(P<0.05)

and that of the EA+cupping group was significantly higher than the score of the medication group(P<0.05).Of the two 64 cases in EA+cupping group and medication group

42 and 23 were recovered basically

13 and 13 experienced marked improvement

7 and 18 were effective

2 and 10 failed in the treatment

with the effective rates being 96.87% and 84.37% respectively.The effective rate of EA+cupping group was obviously higher than that of medication group(P<0.01).Conclusion EA+ cupping at the lumbo-back can effectively relieve fatigue of post-stroke patients

and its therapeutic effect is superior to medication.