A multicentral randomized control study on clinical acupuncture treatment of Bell's palsy.
OBJECTIVE
To confirm the clinical therapeutic effects of acupuncture and moxibustion on Bell's palsy.


METHODS
480 cases from 4 hospitals were enrolled for this study, among whom 439 cases completed the whole course of the study. The patients were randomly divided into the following 3 groups, a control group(treated with prednisone, vitamin B1, vitamin B12 and dibazol), an acu-moxibustion group (treated with filiform needle plus moxibustion), and a basic treatment plus acu-moxibustion group (treated with oral medicine like those in the control group plus acupuncture, and with moxibustion like in the acu-moxibustion group). The whole treatment course lasted 4 weeks. The therapeutic effects were evaluated according to the symptoms and signs, House-Brackmann grading scale and facial disability indexes(FDI).


RESULTS
All the 4 centers (hospitals) completed this study well, with no statistically significant difference found among the 4 centers in therapeutic effects. The patients with different conditions were well distributed in the 3 groups, thus the basic general data were comparable (P > 0.05). The therapeutic effects of the two treatment groups were better than the control group (respectively P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), and it was the best in the acu-moxibustion group (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncture and moxibustion may exert definite therapeutic effects on Bell's palsy, better than that of the basic treatment group or the basic treatment plus acu-moxibustion group.
Liang
Fanrong
F
The College of Acupuncture and Massage, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sichuan 610075, China.
Li
Ying
Y
Yu
Shuguang
S
Li
Changdu
C
Hu
Lingxiang
L
Zhou
Dong
D
Yuan
Xiuli
X
Li
Yi
Y
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020330:Bell Palsy / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009071:Moxibustion; D016896:Treatment Outcome