Acupuncture for the Treatment of Oculomotor Paralysis: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

This study consisted of a single centre randomised controlled trial with two parallel arms: an acupuncture group (n = 20) with 27 affected eyes and a sham group (n = 20) with 23 affected eyes. Participants in the acupuncture group received acupuncture treatment once daily, three times weekly for four weeks. Participants assigned to the control group received sham acupuncture, the same protocol as that used for the acupuncture group but without insertion of needles into the skin. The primary outcome measure was the cervical range of motion (CROM) score. Secondary outcome measures were the palpebral fissure size, response rate, and adverse events. All 40 participants completed the study. In the comparison of acupuncture and sham acupuncture, a significant difference was observed between acupuncture and sham acupuncture in CROM score (21.37 ± 15.16 and 32.21 ± 19.54, resp.) (P < 0.05) and palpebral fissure size (7.19 ± 2.94 and 5.41 ± 2.45, resp.) (P < 0.05). Response rate was also significantly different in the acupuncture group (P < 0.05). No adverse events were reported in both groups in this study. In summary, it was demonstrated that acupuncture had a feasibility positive effect on oculomotor paralysis.