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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Rehabil. Sci.
Sec. Rehabilitation in Neurological Conditions
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1464502
This article is part of the Research Topic Neurobiological Mechanisms of Adjuvant Therapies for Personalized Stroke Rehabilitation: Towards Comprehensive Recovery View all articles

Efficacy of acupuncture combined with mirror therapy in the treatment of post-stroke limb movement disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Provisionally accepted
Weihao Ke Weihao Ke 1*Hongxin Cheng Hongxin Cheng 1Xiaoxuan Ren Xiaoxuan Ren 2Liang Yang Liang Yang 1Xiaomin Lai Xiaomin Lai 1Zhenyu Wang Zhenyu Wang 3
  • 1 Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Sichuan Provincial Orthopedics Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 3 Affiliated Rehabilitation Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The included randomized controlled trials compared the efficacy of acupuncture therapy (AT) combined with mirror therapy (MT) against AT, MT, and conventional rehabilitation therapy on limb motor impairment in stroke patients, with independent data extraction and study quality assessment conducted.A META analysis using fixed-effect and random-effect models was performed to calculate the mean difference (MD) in motor scores and the Total effective rate RR (Risk ratio) between the AT combined with MT group and the control group.The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) for motor function includes the FMA-T (total FMA), FMA-UE (upper extremity FMA), and FMA-L (lower extremity FMA).A total of 42 randomized controlled trials were included, involving 3340 patients with post-stroke motor impairment.AT combined with MT was more favorable for FMA-UE (mean difference [MD]=6.67, 95% CI [5.60-7.93], Z=11.42, P <0.0001), FMA-L (MD=3.37, 95% CI [2.99-3.76], Z=17.31, P <0.001), and FMA-T (MD=6.84, 95% CI [5.92-7.77], Z=14.48, P <0.001).The combined AT and MT treatment was more favorable for the Modified Barthel Index (MBI) score in post-stroke motor impairment (MD=10.82, 95% CI [8.52 -13.12], Z=9.22, P <0.001).AT combined with MT was more favorable for the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) (MD=-0.34, 95% CI [-0.66 --0.03], Z=14.48, P <0.001).AT combined with MT was more favorable for the Total effective rate in treating post-stroke motor impairment (relative risk=1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.19-1.37], Z=6.54, P < 0.001).AT combined with MT can effectively improve patients' motor function and daily living abilities.

    Keywords: Acupuncture, mirror therapy, Stroke, motor impairment, meta-analysis Abstracts PROSPERO registration number CRD42024559992

    Received: 14 Jul 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ke, Cheng, Ren, Yang, Lai and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Weihao Ke, Yongchuan Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

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