Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026
05:34
Auricular Acupuncture as a Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Combined with Sleep Disorders
Published on: August 18, 2023
Time to Complete Clinical Recovery and Its Predictors in Bell's Palsy Patients Receiving Acupuncture: A Prospective
Aleksandar Kopitović1,2, Sandro Kalember1,3, Filip Katanić1,3
1Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 3 Hajduk Veljkova Street, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
|July 28, 2026
Summary
Acupuncture treatment for Bell's palsy (BP) shows an 80.3% recovery rate, with milder cases recovering faster. Initial severity and nerve damage significantly impact recovery time, even when clinical recovery is achieved.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Background:
- Bell's palsy (BP) is the most common cause of acute unilateral peripheral facial nerve paralysis.
- Understanding recovery predictors is crucial for patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the time to complete clinical recovery in Bell's palsy patients treated with acupuncture.
- To identify baseline clinical and electrophysiological predictors of recovery outcomes.
- To examine electrophysiological characteristics at the time of complete clinical recovery.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, observational, uncontrolled cohort study of 1050 Bell's palsy patients receiving acupuncture.
- Clinical severity assessed using House-Brackmann (HB) and Sunnybrook (SB) grading systems.
- Electrophysiological evaluation included CMAP analysis and needle EMG; time-to-event analysis used Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression.
Main Results:
- Complete clinical recovery was achieved in 80.3% of patients, with a median recovery time of 40 days.
- Milder baseline deficits (HB II-IV) correlated with significantly faster recovery than severe paralysis (HB V-VI).
- Higher baseline HB grade, older age, and more severe EMG denervation independently predicted slower recovery.
Conclusions:
- Bell's palsy recovery is dynamic and heterogeneous, influenced by initial severity and electrophysiological impairment.
- Combined clinical and electrophysiological assessments aid prognostic stratification and follow-up.
- Persistent electrophysiological abnormalities post-clinical recovery suggest incomplete neurophysiological regeneration.
