The Effect of Different Acupuncture Therapies on Neurological Recovery in Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

The Effect of Different Acupuncture Therapies on Neurological Recovery in Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:2371084 Authors: Xiong F, Fu C, Zhang Q, Peng L, Liang Z, Chen L, He C, Wei Q Abstract Many acupuncture therapies were used to treat spinal cord injury (SCI) and its complications. The difference in efficacy among these therapies has not been assessed. To compare the efficacy of different acupuncture therapies for SCI, we searched databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and WanFang) for relevant RCTs in both English and Chinese before June 2019 that reported the association between acupuncture therapies and SCI. The RCTs were categorized according to the location of the acupoints used in them. The neural function was assessed by American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score, and daily living ability was accessed by Modified Barthel Index (MBI) after SCI. In total, 22 trials involving 1644 participants were included. The pairwise meta-analysis and random effects model network meta-analysis were conducted. The results indicated that exercise combined with electro-acupuncture (EA) is superior to exercise without acupuncture in improving the ASIA motor score. EA was associated with a significantly higher improvement in the MBI score than exercise alone, except for EA of head + limbs and limbs. Additi...
Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Tags: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Source Type: research