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This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether acupuncture can improve swallowing function in people who develop dysphagia — difficulty swallowing — following a stroke. Researchers searched eight major databases up to March 2026 and identified twenty-three randomised controlled trials involving a total of 2,224 patients, analysing both short-term outcomes and longer-term effects measured at least three months after treatment ended.
The pooled results showed that acupuncture significantly improved swallowing ability in the short term, as measured by the Water Swallowing Test and the Standardised Swallowing Assessment. Crucially, these benefits were maintained at the three-month follow-up point and beyond, with improvements also seen in patients’ self-reported swallowing-related quality of life. Subgroup analyses suggested that starting acupuncture during the subacute or recovery phase of stroke rehabilitation produced more pronounced improvements. Electroacupuncture showed a marginal — but not statistically significant — advantage over other forms of acupuncture on one outcome measure. Adverse events were mild and limited to local skin reactions.
However, the authors caution that the overall certainty of the evidence ranges from low to moderate for short-term outcomes and from very low to low for long-term outcomes, largely due to performance bias, publication bias, and small sample sizes in the longer-term studies.
Conclusion: Acupuncture appears to be a safe and potentially effective rehabilitation tool for post-stroke dysphagia, with benefits persisting beyond the treatment period, though higher-quality trials are needed to strengthen confidence in these findings.
Source: Liao Z, Xu K, Gao L and colleagues. Frontiers in neurology (2026). View on PubMed (PMID 42835436) · doi:10.3389/fneur.2026.1889347
