ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the efficacy of acupuncture at Hegu (LI4) in treating central facial palsy due to cerebral ischemia, and to explore the dose-effect correlation and the optimal acupuncture protocol.Method Totally 150 patients with central facial palsy due to ischemic stroke were randomized into four groups to receive acupuncture at Hegu with different stimulation parameters plus the conventional integrated Chinese and Western medicine (group A, B, C, D) according to the acupuncture time and direction, and a control group (group E) only to receive the conventional Chinese and Western medicine treatment. The treatment lasted 14 d. The House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system, Toronto Facial Grading System and facial palsy grading scale were adopted as the evaluation indexes.Result After intervention, the scores of the three indexes were all significantly increased in the five groups (P<0.05), and the inter-group comparisons showed significant differences in comparing the improvement rate (P<0.05).Conclusion The study shows that acupuncture at Hegu is effective in treating central facial palsy due to cerebral ischemia, and with the inverse insertion of the needle and manipulation for 5 min at Hegu should be the optimal protocol regarding the improvement of the symptom score and effective rate.