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Table 1 Details of acupuncture intervention

From: Effects of electroacupuncture therapy for Bell’s palsy from acute stage: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

  

Description

Acupuncture rationale

Style of acupuncture

Traditional Chinese 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

Extent to which treatment varied

The subjects of the intervention group all receive the same acupuncture or electroacupuncture treatment

Details of needling

Number of needle insertions per subject per session

10

Names of the insertion points (uni- or bilateral)

GB14, TE23, Qianzheng, LI20, SI18, ST4 (unilateral, affected side), LI4, LR3 (bilateral)

Depth of insertion

10–30 mm (exact depth shown in Table 2)

Response sought

Deqi

Needle stimulation

Some in electric stimulation, others in manual stimulation (exact details are in the text)

Needle retention time

20 minutes

Needle type

0.30 mm (diameter) × 25 mm (length) disposal needle (Huatuo Acupuncture, Suzhou, China)

Treatment regimen

Number of treatment sessions

12

Frequency and duration of treatment sessions

3 sessions/wk for 4 wk

Other components of treatment

Details of other interventions administered to the acupuncture group

No other interventions

Setting and context of treatment

All subjects are informed that they will receive acupuncture or electroacupuncture treatment, which can potentially reduce Bell’s palsy symptoms; however, the non-acupuncture control group would have to complete the evaluations during the first week before receiving the same treatment as the acupuncture group.

Practitioner background

Description of participating acupuncturists

Specialists in traditional Chinese 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

Non-acupuncture control is used as a control because sham acupuncture cannot be a substituted for a physiologically inert placebo, and Western medicine is recommended in the guideline.

Precise description of the control or comparator

The Western medicine control group forms a positive control and completes the evaluations during the first week after randomization.