In this study, 61 cases of ischemic stroke patients are randomly divided into surrounding needlinggroup (n＝31) and scalp-acupuncture group (n＝ 30). The ischemic focus of the brain is determined by CT examina-tion. For patients of the surrounding needling group, Gauge-29-30 stainless steel filiform needles are inserted into thesurrounding scalp of the focal projection region one by one, with the needle-tips toward the center of the focal projec-tion area, and combined with other body acupoints according to syndrome differentiation. For patients of scalp-acupuncture group, Motor Area (MS 6) and Sensory Area (MS 7) of the contralateral side of the focus are used. Thetreatment is performed once daily in both groups, with 30 sessions being a therapeutic course. After one course oftreatment, in surrounding needling and scalp-acupuncture groups, 20 and 11 cases are cured basically, 10 and 15 havea marked improvement, 1 and 4 are effective, the therapeutic effect of the former group is significantly superior to thatof scalp-acupuncture group. After treatment, plasma epinephrine (E) and norepinephrine (NE) levels of the two groupsdecrease considerably compared with pre-treatment of each group ( P＜0.01 ), and the effects of surrounding needlingon E and NE are more evidently than those of scalp-acupuncture ( P＜ 0.05). Results suggest that the therapeutic effectof acupuncture may be related to the decline of plasma E and NE levels.