Scalp-electroacupuncture (scalp-EA) is an effective traditional Chinese medicine characteristic therapy for ischemic stroke and frequently employed in clinical practice, but there is still lack of normative standard of stimulation parameters. After searching the relevant articles, we summed up the stimulation parameters of scalp-EA for ischemic stroke from 5 aspects： 1) stimulating frequency (Low frequency is better when continuous waveform is used, and high frequency is better when dense-sparce waveform or discontinuous waveform employed), 2) waveform (Dense-sparce or discontinuous waves are better than continuous waves), 3) intensity (A tolerable stimulation strength may result in better outcomes), 4) needle retention time (In general, the needle retention time is 30 min, but still needing being determined), treatment course (Some studies showed that once a day EA for 3 continuous days is effective, 7 days, significantly effective, 14 days, further enhanced in the therapeutic effect), and 5) intervention time window (Generally, EA intervention within 6 h was mostly effective, shown by animal study). However, these parameters do not exist independently, and they can influence and interact with each other. It is difficult to observe the interaction among parameters only with single-dimension analysis. Hence, more and larger sample size studies, with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, more reasonable research design (such as multiple factorial design, orthogonal experimental design, etc.) and multiple levels effect analysis are warranted.
电头针作为治疗缺血性脑卒中的有效中医特色疗法，其刺激参数仍缺乏统一规范。本文从刺激频率、波形、强度、留针时间与疗程、介入时间窗5个方面归纳了电头针治疗缺血性脑卒中的参数研究概况。然而，这些参数因素并不是独立存在的，它们可以相互影响和相互作用，仅用单维分析很难观察到参数之间的相互作用。因此，未来还需要进行更多大样本量、具有严格的纳入和排除标准、更合理的研究设计及多层次效应分析的研究。.
Keywords: Ischemic stroke; Review; Scalp-electroacupuncture; Stimulation parameters.