title: [Clinical trials of acupuncture intervention combined with sitting training for cerebral palsy children with parafunctional sitting position].
abstract: 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 120 parafunctional 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 (4 Hz, a tolerable strength) was applied to Mingmen (GV 4), Jizhong (GV 6), Shenshu (BL 23), and Pishu (BL 20) for 30 min, once daily. Both sitting training and EA treatment were conducted 5 times a week and continuously for a month. Twenty-items of sitting functions (0 - 3 point 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 60 cases 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Department, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400014, China. zhy19831102@163.com
authors.forename: Hong-Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D011187:Posture