Effect of acupuncture on ischemic stroke patients with hypertension: a randomized clinical trail

Background: Limited evidence suggests that acupuncture has a short-term antihypertensive effect. The efficacy and safety of acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment for ischemic stroke patients with hypertension were uncertain. Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in reducing stroke recurrence and improving blood pressure for stroke patients with hypertension. Design: Multicenter randomized, controlled trial. Methods: 18 centers from September 2015 to January 2020. 480 stroke participants with hypertension were randomized into adjunctive acupuncture group and basic treatment group to complete a 12-week treatment. The primary outcome was the one-year recurrence of stroke and the secondary outcome in 48-week follow-up included blood pressure, the Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome score, the Short Form 36-item Health Survey, the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, the Barthel Index scale, the ultrasound doppler, and serum tests. Results: = 0.03 < 0 0.05). Conclusion: Adjunctive acupuncture therapy can improve stroke patients' circadian rhythm, carotid blood flow, and quality of life, but may not have a superior effect on reducing one-year stroke recurrence. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02967484.