Efficacy of staging-acupuncture therapy on peripheral facial paralysis: a meta-analysis

Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy of staging-acupuncture therapy on peripheral facial paralysis. Methods: The clinical trials regarding acupuncture therapy for peripheral facial paralysis published before December 31st 2021 were searched in databases of PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, VIP and CBM. The information of included studies was extracted and the quality was assessed by two independent researchers. The Metaanalysis was performed by using RevMan 5.4 software. Results: A total of 8 trials were included, involving 1224 cases. The results of Meta-analysis showed that: The markedly effective rate of staging-acupuncture group was higher than of the non-staging group [RR=1.23, 95%CI(1.15,1.32), Z=6.02, P<0.01]. Conclusion: Based on the current evidence, the efficacy of staging-acupuncture therapy on facial paralysis is superior to non-staging acupuncture therapy. But for the quantity and quality of the included trials are not satisfactory, the conclusion still needs more high-quality, large-size and randomized controlled trials.