Pharmacopuncture for stroke survivors: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials in South Korea

Pharmacopuncture is one of the widely used interventions for stroke in Korea, but there is a lack of such evidence. This study was aimed to summarize the currently available evidence on the use of pharmacopuncture for stroke in the clinical practice of Korean medicine.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pharmacopuncture for stroke in Korea was conducted.

Pharmacopuncture using bee venom was significantly beneficial for improving motor function and relieving the post-stroke shoulder pain. No serious adverse events were reported. The overall risk of bias of the included studies indicated a certain degree of concern and the level of evidence was low.

The majority of RCTs have focused on the pain relief effects of bee venom injection. However, the quantity and quality of the evidence are not sufficiently high to draw definitive conclusions on this topic.