Objective To observe the clinical efficacy on post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction treated with auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet combined with catheter balloon dilatation

and the effect on the adverse reaction during catheter balloon dilatation and the patients’ quality of life. Methods A total of 106 patients with post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction were randomly divided into an observation group（53 cases

3 cases dropped off

1 case excluded） and a control group（53 cases

5 cases dropped off）. The catheter balloon dilatation was provided in the control group

once a day. In the observation group

on the base of the treatment as the control group

auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet was added. Before catheter balloon dilatation

the magnetic pellet was pressed at Yanhou（TG3）

Xin（CO15）

Naogan（AT3

4i）

etc. These auricular points were pressed 5 min

as well as in every morning and evening for another 5 min

totally 3 times a day. The auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet was applied on the ears alternatively each time

once every 3 days. One session treatment contained 6 days and 4 sessions of treatment were required in both groups. Before and after treatment

the scores of standardized swallowing assessment（SSA）

Rosenbek penetration-aspiration scale（PAS） and swallowing quality of life（SWAL-QOL） were observed in both groups. Separately

on day 1（T1） of treatment

in 2 weeks into treatment（T2） and on the last day of treatment（T3）

the score of visual analogue scale（VAS） was recorded in both groups. The incidence of nausea and vomiting and the clinical efficacy were compared between the two groups. Results After treatment

SSA and PAS scores were reduced（P<0.05） and SWAL-QOL scores were increased（P<0.05） in both groups compared with those before treatment

and the changes in the observation group were larger than those in the control group（P<0.05）. At T2 and T3

VAS scores were lower than those at T1 in both groups（P<0.05）

while VAS score at each time point in the observation group was lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）. The incidence of nausea and vomiting in the observation group was 51.0%（25/49）

lower than the control group（79.2%

38/48

P<0.05）. The total effective rate was 95.9%（47/49） in the observation group

better than the control group（87.5%

42/48

P<0.05）. Conclusion Auricular acupuncture of magnetic pellet combined with catheter balloon dilatation effectively improve the swallowing function

relieve the discomforts during the dilatation and promote the quality of life in patients with post-stroke cricopharyngeus muscle dysfunction.