Peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) results in functional disorder and social dysfunction, when it is under a severe condition at onset, long-term poor outcomes do occur. Different acupuncture methods have been reported to be potentially effective for shortening the disease course and reducing the occurrence of sequelae when they are applied at an early stage. Neuro edema is a common pathological feature in the acute phase, and many clinical studies have suggested its effect of reducing facial nerve edema. It is of value to estimate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment at the onset, and to assess the most suitable acupuncture method for the acute period. All the RCTs and quasi-RCTs on acupuncture therapy for patients who is during acute stage of PFP will be included. The recovery rate of facial function, the time it takes to restore facial function and the odds of sequelae occurring will be the key parts we focus on. Psychological well-being and quality of life will also be evaluated. Literature searching will be conducted until December 31th, 2022 from eight databases systematically. Two reviewers will screen the literature and extract the data independently. RevMan software will be used for data analysis, and the version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2) will be used to assess the certainty of evidence. Forest plots and summary findings will be generated. If data permits, a meta-analysis will be conducted. Since this study will not involve clinical treatment of patients, ethics approval is not required. The result of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication and as a proposal for clinical practice and further study on acupuncture treatment at the early stage of PFP. This review will summarize the evidence on the different type of acupuncture therapy for acute Bell’s palsy and Ramsay-Hunt syndrome. We anticipate that it would be safe and effective when applied to the acute phase of PFP, and some specific suitable acupuncture methods would be found resulting from this review. International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) number CRD42020205127

中文翻译：

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急性面瘫应该用针灸治疗吗？系统评价方案


周围性面瘫（PFP）会导致功能障碍和社交功能障碍，当发病时病情严重时，会出现长期不良预后。据报道，早期应用不同的针灸方法可能有效缩短病程并减少后遗症的发生。神经水肿是急性期常见的病理特征，许多临床研究表明其具有减轻面神经水肿的作用。在发病时评估针灸治疗的有效性和安全性，评估急性期最合适的针灸方法具有重要价值。所有针对PFP急性期患者针灸治疗的随机对照试验和准随机对照试验均将被纳入。面部功能的恢复速度、面部功能恢复所需的时间以及发生后遗症的几率将是我们关注的重点。还将评估心理健康和生活质量。截至2022年12月31日，将在8个数据库中系统地进行文献检索。两名评审员将独立筛选文献并提取数据。 RevMan 软件将用于数据分析，Cochrane 偏倚风险工具 (RoB 2) 版本 2 将用于评估证据的确定性。将生成森林图和总结结果。如果数据允许，将进行荟萃分析。由于本研究不涉及患者的临床治疗，因此不需要伦理批准。本研究结果将提交给同行评审期刊发表，并作为PFP早期针灸治疗临床实践和进一步研究的建议。 本综述将总结不同类型针灸治疗急性贝尔麻痹和拉姆齐亨特综合征的证据。我们预计将其应用于PFP急性期是安全有效的，并且通过本次综述将找到一些具体合适的针灸方法。国际前瞻性系统评价登记册 (PROSPERO) 编号 CRD42020205127