Effectiveness and Safety of Rhubarb for the Treatment of Patients Who Have Suffered From a Stroke

Inclusion Criteria: * Occurrence of an acute ischemic stroke (between 9 and 72 h after onset) with a score of at least 6 on the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and patient age of at least 18 years. * Have no pneumonia according to modified criteria of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) * Consistent with the Constipation of Phlegm-Heat Accumulation type by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) standard * Patients or their representatives voluntarily take part in this study and signed the informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Cerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage * Transient ischemic attack(TIA) * Proven cerebral embolism caused by tumor, Brain Trauma, cerebral parasitic disease, dysbolismus, fibrillation atrial resulted from rheumatic heart disease, coronary heart disease, and other heart diseases * Clinical signs of infection on admission * Pregnant or breast-feeding * Allergic to rhubarb * Preceding or ongoing antibiotic therapy within the last 24 h * Participation in another interventional trial * Immunosuppressant treatment within the last 30 days * Combining severe clinical conditions such as liver, kidney, Hematopoietic System, endocrine system or psychological diseases