Systematic evaluation and meta-analysis of the efficacy of Jingjin acupuncture therapy in the treatment of peripheral facial palsy

Xingyu Kang; Ying Huang; Xueyan Lv; Xiaofang Liu; Siyu Chen; Le Ma; Shuai Shi

doi:10.3389/fneur.2024.1459738

Systematic evaluation and meta-analysis of the efficacy of Jingjin acupuncture therapy in the treatment of peripheral facial palsy

Front Neurol. 2024 Dec 18:15:1459738. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1459738. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Xingyu Kang¹, Ying Huang¹, Xueyan Lv¹, Xiaofang Liu², Siyu Chen¹, Le Ma¹, Shuai Shi³

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
² Oncology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.
³ Rehabilitation Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of Jingjin (muscle region of the meridian, sinew/tendon/fascia) acupuncture therapy in treating peripheral facial paralysis.

Methods: A computerized search of PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Studies, SCOPUS, Web of Science, PEDro, China Knowledge, Wanfang, and Wipu databases was performed for published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the treatment of peripheral facial paralysis using Jingjin acupuncture therapy from the beginning of the construction of the databases until 2 April 2024. After a two-person independent extraction of data, the studies were assessed for paper quality and then analyzed for meta-analysis using RevMan5.4 software.

Results: A total of 19 randomized controlled trials involving 1,436 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that Jingjin acupuncture therapy for peripheral facial palsy had a higher overall effectiveness rate (OR = 3.93, 95% CI [2.78, 5.56], Z = 7.75, p < 0.00001), and cure rates (RR = 1.69, 95% CI [1.51, 1.90], and Z = 8.89, p < 0.00001) were higher than those of conventional therapy. Jingjin acupuncture therapy was also superior to conventional acupuncture therapy in terms of Facial Disability Index-Physical (FDIP) scores, Facial Disability Index-Social (FDIS) scores, facial nerve function scores, and Portmann scores on the Facial Disability Index Scale in patients with peripheral facial paralysis.

Conclusion: Jingjin acupuncture therapy is effective in treating peripheral facial paralysis and has better overall efficacy than conventional therapy. However, the reliability is limited by the small number of high-quality studies with scientifically rigorous methods and designs, so more large-sample, high-quality, randomized controlled studies are still needed for further validation.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, Identifier CRD42024543195.

Keywords: Jingjin; acupuncture; facial paralysis; meridian; sinew.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China (LH2022H080), Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine of China (15041190022), and Scientific Research on Chinese Medicine in Heilongjiang Province of China (GY2022-15). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.