From: Acupuncture for sequelae of Bell's palsy: a randomized controlled trial protocol
Acupuncture rationale | Style of acupuncture | Traditional Korean Medicine |
---|---|---|
 | Rationale for treatment | Acupuncture has been historically used to treat facial palsy. Additionally, it is known to be a safe treatment used in a wide range of symptoms caused by Bell's palsy [11]. |
 | Extent to which treatment varied | The subjects of the acupuncture group all receive the same treatment |
Details of needling | Number of needle insertions per subject per session | 18 |
 | Names of the insertion points (uni/bilateral) | ST4, ST6, (unilateral, unaffected side) ST1, EX-HN4, TE23, LI20 (unilateral, affected side) TE17, ST9, LI10, LI4, ST36 and GB34 (bilateral) |
 | Depth of insertion | 5-30 mm (exact depth shown in Table 2) |
 | Response sought | De-qi |
 | Needle stimulation | Manual |
 | Needle retention time | 10 minutes |
 | Needle type | 0.20 mm (diameter) × 30 mm (length) disposal needle (Dongbang Acupuncture Inc, Boryeong, Korea) |
Treatment regimen | Number of treatment sessions | 24 |
 | Frequency and duration of treatment sessions | 3 sessions/week for 8 weeks |
Other components of treatment | Details of other interventions administered to the acupuncture group | No other interventions are done |
 | Setting and context of treatment | All subjects are informed that they will receive acupuncture treatment, which can potentially reduce the sequelae of Bell's palsy symptoms; however, the control group would have to complete the three evaluations during the first 8 weeks before receiving the same treatment as the acupuncture group. |
Practitioner background | Description of participating acupuncturists | Specialists in Oriental Medicine with at least 3 years of practice in acupuncture |
Control or comparator interventions | Rationale for the control or comparator in the context of the research question | No-acupuncture waitlist control is used as a control because sham acupuncture cannot be a substituted for a physiologically inert placebo [20] |
 | Precise description of the control or comparator | The control group forms a waitlist and completes the evaluations during the first 8 weeks after randomization before receiving the same treatment as the acupuncture group. |