Description | ||
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1. Acupuncture rationale | 1a.) Style of acupuncture | Traditional Chinese medicine. |
1b.) Rationale for treatment | Acupuncture for the treatment of facial palsy has been strongly recommended as level I evidence in the evidence-based acupuncture therapy compiled by Chinese scholar Dr. Du Yuanhao. It has also been proved to be safe and reliable in practice. | |
1c.) Extent to which treatment was varied | There is no individualized part in the acupuncture process. | |
2. Details of needling | 2a.) Number of needle insertions per subject per session | Acute phase: 6 times at least (experimental group). Recovery phase: 9 times (both groups). |
2b.) Names of the insertion points (uni- or bilateral) | Acute phase: SJ17, GB2, GB14, EX-HN4, ST2, SI18, ST4, LI4, and (affected side). Recovery phase: GB14, EX-HN4, ST2, SI18, ST4, EX-HN16, LI4, and Ashi point (affected side). | |
2c.) Depth of insertion | 10–20 mm (exact depth shown in Table 3). | |
2d.) Response sought | Deqi. | |
2e.) Needle stimulation | Simultaneous intervention of electric stimulation and manual stimulation (exact details are in Table 3). | |
2f.) Needle retention time | 30 min (from the last needle insertion to the stopping of the treatment). | |
2g.) Needle type | 0.25 mm (diameter) × 40 mm (length) disposal needle (Huatuo Acupuncture, Suzhou, China). | |
3. Treatment regimen | 3a.) Number of treatment sessions | 6 times at least in the acute phase and 9 times in the recovery phase, during the 30-day test period, no less than 15 treatments in total. |
3b.) Frequency and duration of treatment sessions | During the acute phase of 10 days except for Sunday, once a day, and 3 times a week during the next 20 days of the recovery phase. | |
4. Other components of treatment | 4a.) Details of other interventions administered to the acupuncture group | No other interventions. |
4b.) Setting and context of treatment | Inform patients that they will receive electroacupuncture or oral prednisone tablets in the acute phase, but both groups will be treated with the same acupuncture regimen after the assessment in the acute phase. | |
5. Practitioner background | 5.) Description of participating acupuncturists | The physician performing acupuncture treatment has at least 5 years of practicing experience. |
6. Control or comparator interventions | 6a.) Rationale for the control or comparator in the context of the research question | Non-acupuncture control is used as a control, and prednisolone tablets are recommended in the guideline. |
6b.) Precise description of the control or comparator | The prednisolone tablets control group forms a positive control and completes the evaluations during the 10th day after onset. |