Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Japanese acupuncture practice cannot easily predict the prognosis of patients with peripheral facial palsy. Electroneurography (ENoG) predicts prognosis in patients with peripheral facial palsy; however, the difference between ENoG values and degree of facial muscle contraction response (FMCR) to electroacupuncture stimulation (ES) targeting the affected facial nerve is unexplored. Therefore, an exploratory evaluation of the differences in ENoG values was conducted across the degrees of FMCR induced by ES targeting the affected facial nerve in patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy. METHODS: In total, 90 patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy were selected who underwent acupuncture treatment at the Department of Oriental Medicine, Saitama Medical University Hospital, between January 2005 and December 2014. The FMCR degree and ENoG values were assessed through patients' medical records. The patients were divided into excellent, moderate, and noresponse groups (65, 16, and 9 patients, respectively) according to the FMCR degree. The differences in ENoG values were analyzed among the groups. RESULTS: The ENoG values were 26.6% (10.4%-55.9%), 2.45% (0.35%-8.80%), and 2.00% (0.00%-5.10%) for the excellent, moderate, and no-response groups, respectively. These values significantly differed between the excellent group and the no-response (P < 0.01) and moderate (P < 0.01) groups. CONCLUSION: The ENoG values varied according to degree of FMCR induced by ES targeting the facial nerve in patients with peripheral facial nerve palsy. This might allow to predict the prognosis based on the ES-induced FMCR.