Clinical efficacy of Wenyang Zhudong acupuncture-moxibustion therapy on intractable peripheral facial paralysis

To observe the clinical efficacy of Wenyang Zhudong (warming yang and assisted with movement) acupuncture-moxibustion therapy for patients with intractable peripheral facial paralysis.

Sixty-two patients with intractable peripheral facial paralysis were randomly divided into an observation group (31 cases, with 1 case dropped out) and a control group (31 cases, with 2 cases dropped out). In the observation group, Wenyang Zhudong acupuncture-moxibustion therapy was used, in which the acupoints included Yangbai (GB14), Quanliao (SI18), Tongziliao (GB1), Yingxiang (LI20), Dicang (ST4), Jiache (ST6) and Xiaguan (ST7) on the affected side, and bilateral Shousanli (LI10) and Zusanli (ST36); and the different techniques were operated, such as point-to-point needling, transverse needling, oblique needling and warming technique. In the control group, the same acupoints were selected, without any manipulation operated. Moxibustion was delivered at bilateral LI10 and ST36 in both groups. The treatment was given once daily, 30 min each session; one course of treatment was composed of 10 sessions and 3 consecutive courses were required with the interval of 1 day. Before and after treatment, the grade of House-Brackmann (H-B) scale, and the scores of the Sunnybrook scale and the facial disability index (FDI), including physical function (FDIp) and social function (FDIs) were evaluated in the two groups, respectively. The action potential amplitude and latency of compound muscles innervated by the facial nerves were detected, and the facial nerve function was assessed. After treatment, the clinical efficacy was comprehensively evaluated.

After treatment, the H-B grades decreased within groups (P<0.05) when compared with those before treatment, and the grades in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05); the Sunnybrook scores and FDIp scores increased within groups (P<0.05) in comparison with those before treatment, and these scores in the observation group were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05); the FDIs scores were reduced within groups (P<0.05) in comparison with those before treatment, and the FDIs score in the observation group was lower than that of the control group (P<0.05); the action potential amplitudes of the compound muscles in the regions innervated by the facial nerves such as the temporal branch and zygomatic branch were elevated when compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), while the latencies were shortened within groups (P<0.05), and the action potential amplitudes of the compound muscles in the regions innervated by the facial nerves in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the latencies were lower (P<0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 96.67% (29/30) and the curative rate was 60% (18/30), higher than those of the control group (82.76% [24/29] and 20.69% [6/29]), respectively (P<0.05).

Wenyang Zhudong acupuncture-moxibustion therapy is effective on intractable peripheral facial paralysis, it promotes the recovery of facial nerve function and improves the physical and social functions.