Comparison of efficacy and the safety evaluation of electroacupuncture with different waveforms for peripheral facial paralysis patients

ObjectiveTo use different waveforms of electroacupuncture (EA) to treat peripheral facial paralysis and assess the clinical efficacy of three kinds of EA waveforms (continuous wave, disperse-dense wave and intermittent wave).MethodsOne hundred and twenty nine patients of Bell's palsy were randomly divided into a continuous wave group (45 cases), a disperse-dense wave group (40 cases) and an intermittent wave group (44 cases). The acupoints selected were Dìcāng ( ST 4), Jiáchē ( ST 6), Tàiyáng ( EX-HN 5), Xiàguān ( ST 7), Hégŭ ( LI 4), etc. The House-Brackmann (HB) scale was used in assessment on the day of inclusion, after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th courses of treatment and the 1st and 3rd months after the end of treatment during the follow-up visit respectively.ResultsThe cured rates were 68.9% (31/45), 60.0% (24/40) and 65.9% (29/44) respectively in the continuous wave group, the disperse-dense wave group and the intermittent wave group. The results of the rank sum test showed that the efficacy comparison among three groups did not show statistically significant difference (P>0.05).ConclusionEA achieved the significant clinical efficacy on peripheral facial paralysis and there is no significant difference in the efficacy among different waveforms. It is suggested that the clinical efficacy of EA on the disease had no significant correlation with the waveforms.