The Efficacy of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Bell's Palsy Sequelae

Abstract

Objective: This study was planned to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for the treatment Bell’s palsy sequelae. In this study, forty patients with Bell’s palsy sequelae were randomly allocated to either the acupuncture or the control group. The clinical outcomes before and after treatment were assessed using the following assays: the facial nerve compound motor action potential and HouseeBrackmann (HB) and Sunnybrook (SB) grading scales. Agreement analysis was performed between the SB and HB grading scales. There was significant difference between pretreatment and posttreatment compound motor action potential values of the patients within the acupuncture group (p = 0.036). In pretreatment and posttreatment SB and HB scores, significant differences within the two groups were observed. However, the significance level in the improvement rate in the acupuncture group was higher than that of the control group. General agreement between the SB and HB scores of groups was an acceptable value, and weighted agreement between the scales was a moderate agreement. In this study, we found that acupuncture treatment is effective in improving Bell’s palsy sequelae. Acupuncture can be used as a safe method in the treatment of Bell’s palsy sequelae. Keywords: acupuncture, Bell's palsy sequelae, electromyography, facial paralysis, grading scales