Electroacupuncture applied to one injured knee improved sensory recovery in both knees after ligament injury, revealing a bilateral therapeutic effect.
Researchers created a one-sided anterior cruciate ligament injury in cynomolgus monkeys and compared injured and opposite knees with knees from uninjured animals. After allowing the injury to develop, one group received daily electroacupuncture at selected treatment points for six weeks. The investigators assessed nerve conduction and sensory pathway responses, then examined ligament tissue using gold chloride staining to observe and count sensory receptors.
Injury to one anterior cruciate ligament impaired proprioceptive sensory function in both the injured and opposite knees, with slower nerve signalling, reduced response strength, fewer total sensory receptors, and more abnormal receptors. Electroacupuncture reduced these abnormalities on both sides, indicating that treatment of the injured knee supported bilateral recovery of knee position-sensing function.
