Acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on neurological recovery, motor function, and functional recovery in spinal cord injury.
Pooled analyses showed that acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on neurological recovery, motor function, and functional recovery and all statistical approaches concurred.
Sensitivity analyses suggested that the smaller studies (sample size <30), those with acute disease, and studies that used varying acupuncture sessions demonstrated a larger magnitude of effect. However, studies were generally of poor quality and publication bias favoring positive studies was evident. Therefore, the benefit of acupuncture we report is by no means definitive and well-designed future studies are recommended to confirm this.
