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Facial spastic synkinesis is a debilitating complication of facial nerve palsy in which abnormal involuntary muscle movements accompany intentional facial expressions. Current treatments often provide only short-term relief and lack precision in targeting the specific muscles involved. This single-blind randomised controlled trial, conducted at Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital between June 2022 and May 2023, investigated whether combining ultrasound shear wave elastography with the traditional Canggui Tanxue needling technique could improve outcomes compared with conventional syndrome differentiation-based acupuncture.
Sixty-four patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The intervention group received Canggui Tanxue needling guided by real-time shear wave elastography, which allowed practitioners to identify and precisely target muscles exhibiting abnormally high tension. The control group received standard acupuncture based on traditional syndrome differentiation. Both groups completed six treatment sessions over three weeks.
After treatment, the ultrasound-guided group demonstrated substantially greater reductions in muscle stiffness in two key facial muscles, superior facial nerve recovery scores, a markedly higher total effective rate, and better physical function scores. Improvements in psychosocial function were similar between both groups. Only two minor bruising events occurred in the ultrasound-guided group, indicating an acceptable safety profile.
Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided Canggui Tanxue needling appears to be a safe and more effective approach than standard acupuncture for reducing muscle tension and improving facial function in patients with facial spastic synkinesis, though longer follow-up studies are needed to assess lasting benefits.
Source: Zhou Y, Wang Y, Wu X and colleagues. Medicine (2026). View on PubMed (PMID 42470002) · doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000049719