Compare the efficacy of acupuncture with drugs in the treatment of Bell's palsy

Zhang R, Wu T, Wang R, Wang D, Liu Q · Medicine · 2019 May

Objective

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies among patients with Bell's palsy.

Conclusions

Although there was not enough evidence to prove its safety, acupuncture seems to be an effective therapy for Bell's palsy. Results of the present meta-analysis showed that acupuncture was associated with increased cure rate and total effective rate of the treatment of Bell's palsy in comparison with drugs. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously, because of the poor quality and heterogeneity of the included studies. In the future, more and more high quality randomized controlled trials (RCT) are needed to prove the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture.

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Insights

Acupuncture seems to be superior to drug therapy in the treatment of Bell's palsy including cure rate and total effective rate.

Despite the poor quality of the included studies, our meta-analysis further confirmed the results of previous researches. Despite the high risk of bias and heterogeneity, acupuncture seems to be superior to drug therapy in the treatment of Bell's palsy including cure rate and total effective rate, which may be an effective method of treating Bell's palsy. When treating patients with facial paralysis, Acupuncture can be seen as one of the effective and operational treatment options. However, due to the existence of methodological flaws and potential bias risk in the included studies, more high-quality and large-sample RCTs are needed. Therefore, please carefully refer to the research conclusions of this meta-analysis.