OBJECTIVETo compare the therapeutic differences among scalp acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking, body acupuncture and western medication for treatment of vascular dementia (VD).

METHODSNinety cases were randomly divided into a combined therapy group (31 cases), a body acupuncture group (29 cases) and a western medication group (30 cases). The combined therapy group was treated with scalp acupuncture at forehead middle line, parieral middle line, temporal front line and temporal rear line as well as auricular point sticking at naogan (AT3,41), shen (CO10), shenmen (TF4), zhen (AT3), once a day; the body acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Fengchi (GB 20), Zusanli (ST 36) and so on, once a day; the western medication group was treated with oral administration of aniracetam tablets, 0.2 g per time, twice a day. Fourteen days were considered as a treatment course, and totally 3 courses were required. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living (ADL) were applied to assess the changes of cognitive behavior ability before and after treatment among three groups. Also the efficacy among three groups were compared.

RESULTSOne case dropped out in the body acupuncture group and western medication group, respectively. The total effective rate was 90.334 (28/31) in the combined therapy group, which was superior to 85.734 (24/28) in the body acupuncture group and 79.3% (23/29) in the western medication group (both P < 0.05). After the treatment, the scores of MMSE and ADL were all improved among three groups, which was the most significant in the combined therapy group (MMSE: 23.32 +/- 4.45 vs 21.23 +/- 4.13, P < 0.05; 23.32 +/- 4.45 vs 20.41 +/- 4. 01, P < 0.01; ADL: 53.18 +/- 21.55 vs 51.92 +/- 20.42, P < 0.05; 53.18 +/- 21.55 vs 49.42 +/- 19.43, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe scalp acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking could improve the clinical symptoms and cognitive behavior ability in patients with vascular dementia, which has superior total efficacy to body acupuncture and western medication aniracetam tablets.