Objective To observe the curative effect of fire needle treatment on spastic hemiplegia in patients with stroke.Methods A total of 80 stroke patients with spastic hemiplegia who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into routine acupuncture(control)group and red-hot needle group(n=40cases in each group).Patients of the red-hot needle group were treated by pricking unilateral Jianyu(LI 15)

Binao(LI 14)

Quchi(LI 11)

Shousanli(LI 10)

Yinlingquan(SP 9)

Xuehai(SP 10)

etc.with a cauterized needle

once every other day for 30days;while those of the control group were treated by acupuncture stimulation of unilateral Jianyu(LI 15)

Quchi(LI 11)

Shousanli(LI 10)

Huantiao(GB 30)

Fengshi(GB 31)

Yanglingquan(GB 34)

etc.with filiform needles

once daily for 30 days.The muscular tension was evaluated using modified Ashworth Scale(MAS)and the limb motor function evaluated using Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale(FMA).Results After the treatment

the muscular tension of both upper and lower limbs in the red-hot needle and routine acupuncture groups was significantly reduced(P<0.05)

exhibiting an appearance of the stroke patients with MAS grade 0(upper and lower limbs:7and 6cases

15 and 12cases in the control and red-hot needle groups).The FMA scores of both upper and lower limbs were remarkably increased in both control and red-hot needle groups after the treatment(P<0.01

P<0.05)

suggesting an improvement of the patients' motor function.The improvement of the muscular tension and motor function of upper limbs in the red-hot needle group was superior to that in the routine acupuncture group(P<0.05

P<0.01).No significant differences were found between the two groups in both MAS grades and FMA scores of lower limbs after the treatment(P>0.05).Of the two 40 cases in the control and red-hot needle groups

5and 13 were basically cured

11 and 8had marked improvement

10 and 14were improved

14 and 5ineffective

with the effective rates being 65.0% and 87.5%

respectively.Conclusion Red-hot needle therapy is effective in reducing muscular tension and improving motor function of the limbs in hemiplegia patients.