Abstract: BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that brain function changes after spinal cord injury, and acupuncture treatment has a good effect on incomplete spinal cord injury. Whether acupuncture can affect the remodeling of brain function in patients with spinal cord injury is worth studying.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of "three-tong acupuncture" on brain function in patients with spinal cord injury. 
METHODS: Twenty spinal cord injury patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into acupuncture treatment group (n=10) and drug treatment group (n=10). Acupoints of Dazhui, Yaoyangguan, Ciliao, Zusanli and etc. were selected and dilatation wave was selected for electroacupuncture which lasted for 30 minutes, once a day. In the drug treatment group, monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside sodium was intravenously administered with the dose of 60 mg, once a day, 4 weeks as a course, two courses in total, with an interval of 7 days. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committees of the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with an approval No. 2014031107.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There was a significant improvement in scores of sensory, motor, daily activity and American Spinal Injury Association grading assessment in the two groups after treatment, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The amplitude low-frequency fluctuation of bilateral main sensorimotor cortexes of patients in both groups after treatment were significantly increased compared with those before treatment, and the amplitude low-frequency fluctuation of bilateral caudate nucleus after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment, and there was no significant difference between the two groups after treatment. The regional homogeneity of bilateral anterior and posterior central gyrus and middle temporal gyrus/inferior temporal gyrus between two groups after treatment were significantly higher than those before treatment. The regional homogeneity of bilateral thalamus and caudate nucleus after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment. There were however no significant difference in the regional homogeneity of these above-mentioned brain areas. The fractional anisotropy of the posterior limb of the internal capsule and the corona radiate after treatment was significantly higher than that before treatment, and the mean diffusivity was decreased compared with that before treatment. There were significant differences in the two groups before and after treatment except for the right radial crown. These findings indicate that “three-tong acupuncture” can improve the remodeling of brain function in patients with spinal cord injury, which may be one of the mechanisms of acupuncture treating spinal cord injury.

Key words: spinal cord injury, three-tong acupuncture, electroacupuncture, magnetic resonance imaging, low-frequency fluctuation, amplitude, regional homogeneity, mean diffusivity, fractional anisotropy