• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2023

This study aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of facial chuna manual therapy in treating the sequelae of Bell's palsy. Four patients were treated with facial chuna manual therapy once a week for 4 weeks, consisting of facial muscle massage, acupoint pressure, contracture chuna, and synkinesis chuna. The changes in symptoms (contracture and sysnkinesis) were measured using the Sunnybrook Facial Grading Scale (SFGS), Synkinesis Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), Facial Disability Index (FDI), Contracture/Synkinesis scale using a facial scanning system, Numeric Rating scale (NRS) for synkinesis or contracture, and Was It Worth It questionnaire. After treatments, SFGS, Contracture/Synkinesis scale, and NRS for synkinesis or contracture showed significant improvements. SFGS increased in three cases from 39~76 to 52~85 score. SAQ decreased in two cases from 53.33~57.78 to 40.00~55.56. FDI increased in three cases from 120~128 to 138~145. These results suggest that Korean medicine treatment, including facial chuna manual therapy can be effective in improving the sequelae of Bell's palsy.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.122-133
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• 2022

Background: This study was designed to statistically analyze the data of patients who had Bell's palsy (BP) who visited a Korean Medicine hospital in the last 3 years to determine the tendency or characteristics of their visit. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 816 patients. Based on the data collected through medical records demographics, condition/disease, and therapeutic characteristics of the patients were analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 23.0. Results: Patients in their teens or younger, and 50s or older had a higher frequency of inpatient treatment, and 20s to 40s had a higher rate of outpatient treatment. The proportion of men who received steroid combination treatment was higher than women. The number of patients with BP, and the total treatment period of the patients has decreased every year. The total treatment period was shorter in the steroid group than the Korean medicine alone group. Inpatients were more likely to receive steroid combination therapy than outpatients. The proportion of patients who received steroid combination therapy was higher than patients with recurrence of BP. Patients with hypertension or diabetes had a higher rate of hospitalization and received more treatments than patients without the condition/disease. Conclusion: Visit characteristics and treatment methods preferred by patients with BP were identified. This research may help to establish a treatment model for BP in Korean Medicine institutions in the future.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.162-167
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• 2015

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of quantitative analysis of the facial nerve using contrast-enhanced three-dimensional (CE 3D) fluid-attenuated inversion recovery-volume isotopic turbo spin echo acquisition (FLAIR-VISTA) for the diagnosis of Bell's palsy in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods: Twelve patients (24 nerves) with unilateral acute facial nerve palsy underwent MRI from March 2014 through March 2015. The unaffected sides were included as a control group. First, for quantitative analysis, the signal intensity (SI) and relative SI (RSI) for canalicular, labyrinthine, geniculate ganglion, tympanic, and mastoid segments of the facial nerve on CE 3D FLAIR images were measured using regions of interest (ROI). Second, CE 3D FLAIR and CE T1-SE images were analyzed to compare their diagnostic performance by visual assessment (VA). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of RSI measurement and VA were compared. Results: The absolute SI of canalicular and mastoid segments and the sum of the five mean SI (total SI) were higher in the palsy group than in the control group, but with no significant differences. The RSI of the canalicular segment and the total SI were significantly correlated with the symptomatic side (P = 0.028 and 0.015). In 11/12 (91.6%) patients, the RSI of total SI resulted in accurate detection of the affected side. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for detecting Bell's palsy were higher with RSI measurement than with VA of CE 3D FLAIR images, while those with VA of CE T1-SE images were higher than those with VA of CE 3D FLAIR images. Conclusion: Quantitative analysis of the facial nerve using CE 3D FLAIR imaging can be useful for increasing the diagnostic performance in children with Bell's palsy when difficult to diagnose using VA alone. With regard to VA, the diagnostic performance of CE T1-SE imaging is superior to that of CE 3D FLAIR imaging in children. Further studies including larger populations are necessary.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.8-26
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• 2022

Objectives: This study is designed to statistically analyze characteristics, treatment effect and prognosis of patients who were treated for the recurrent Bell's palsy Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the medical records and telephone questionnaire of 82 patients treated with the recurrent Bell's palsy at the OO Korean Medicine hospital from August 01, 2018 to July 31, 2021. Results: The lower the EQ-VAS^® and HB scale before and after treatment, the higher the satisfaction with the treatment. The average of the number of days and duration of outpatient treatment for male was longer than that for female. The average number of days and duration of outpatient treatment in the group that received combined treatment was longer than that of patients who received Korean Medicine only. The higher the satisfaction of treatment, the higher the willingness to receive treatment in the event of recurrent facial palsy. HB scale after treatment was the lowest in their 40s, and the average value of HB scale after treatment tended to increase as age increased except for those in their 40s. Conclusion: This study showed that the lower the HB scale after treatment, the lower the EQ-VAS®, the higher the treatment satisfaction, and the higher the probability receiving treatment if the facial paralysis recurs. Those in their 10s to 40s showed excellent results after treatment. Comparatively, those in their 50s and above showed a little effect after treatment. Gender, affected side, history of facial palsy, season of onset, age, hypertension and diabetes had no statistically significance with recurrent Bell's palsy prognosis.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-19
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• 2024

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analysis the clinical study trends on Korean Medicine treatment for Bell's palsy during pregnancy. Methods: Key words such as 'facial palsy', 'Bell's palsy, 'Korean medicine', 'herbal medicine', 'acupuncture', 'pregnancy' were searched through the 'RISS', 'OASIS', 'KISS', 'PubMed' and 'CNKI' databases. Results: Ten clinical studies with 107 patients were selected, and 1 randomized controlled trial and 9 case reports were included as the target studies. In the 9 case reports, the gestational age at the onset of facial palsy was most common in the third trimester (29-42 weeks) in 38 cases (56.7%). The most commonly used Korean medicine interventions were acupuncture, with the most frequently used acupoints being ST4, ST2, ST6, BL2, TE23, LI20, GB1, GB14, SI18, and CV24. The herbal medicine treatment most commonly utilized was Geumgwedanggwi-san (金匱當歸散), which is related to the principles of clearing heat, nourishing blood, and stabilizing the fetus (淸熱養血安胎). Among the 65 participants evaluated using the House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system, 81.5% showed complete recovery to grade 1, while 6% remained at grade 4 with no effect, indicating the efficacy of Korean medicine treatment for facial palsy during pregnancy. All the selected studies reported no abnormalities in the mothers or fetal growth, and all participants who had the reported delivery had full-term childbirth. Conclusions: The effect on Korean Medicine treatment for Bell's palsy during pregnancy had mostly positive results. However, further large, well-designed clinical trials are needed to establish the foundation of Korean Medicine treatment for Bell's palsy during pregnancy.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.19-28
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the therapeutic effects of oriental medical treatment and oriental-western medical treatment on Bell's palsy. Methods : From 1st June, 2006 to 31th August, 2007, 30 Bell's palsy patients who visited the Facial palsy center at East-West Neo Medical Center within 7days of onset and treated for more than 4weeks were randomly divided into two groups. Group A was treated with oriental medical therapy(Acupuncture, Herb, Physical therapy) and Group B with both oriental and western medical therapy(Acupuncture, Herb, Physical therapy, Administration of prednisone). We evaluated the treatment effect of each group with the House-Brackmann Gross Grading System before treatment, after 1week, 2weeks, 3weeks and 4weeks of treatment. Results : After 1week of treatment, Group A showed better performance compared with Group B. After 3weeks and 4 weeks of treatment, Group B showed better performance than Group A. Conclusions : These results proved that combination treatment of oriental and western medicine was more effective than just oriental medical treatment in long term treatment of Bell's palsy. But we discovered that there were no significant differences between the two groups.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.55-64
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• 2011

Objectives : This study was performed in order to investigate the effectiveness of electroneuronography as predicting factors for peripheral facial palsy prognosis. Methods : Data were gathered with 32 Bell's palsy patients. The grade of Bell's palsy were measured 2 times; first medical exam and 4 weeks after treatment, with Lucille Daniels's Muscle test. We converted the grade system use on five rating scale. The significance of treatment verified with paired t-test used on first medical exam and 4 weeks after treatment score and predicting factors of electroneuronography verified with simple regression test. Results : The improvement score were statistically significant different before and after treatment(p<.001). Mean axonal loss according to electroneuronography showed a statistically significant correlation in predicting peripheral facial palsy (P<0.01). Conclusion : Axonal loss as determined by electroneuronography has statistical significance as predicting factors for peripheral facial palsy prognosis.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.51-60
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• 2016

Objectives : Although integrative Korean medical treatments have been suggested to be effective for treating Bell's palsy, the effect of Korean medical treatment according to when treatment was started is unknown in the clinical field. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the results of treating Bell's palsy according to different starting points of integrative Korean medical treatments. Methods : We screened patients who visited the Facial Palsy Center at Kyung Hee University Hospital for Korean and Western combined medical treatment from March 2011 to February 2016. A total of 821 out of 2086 patients were studied, including their basic characteristics and results of an electromyography. Patients who started Korean medical treatment within 3 days of onset were placed in group A, within 9 days of onset in group B, and patients who started treatment after 10 days of onset were placed in group C. We tried to compare the level of facial nerve damage by electromyography between groups. Results : The patients in group C had the highest axonal loss rates in all branches(frontal, oculi, nasal, oris). The post hoc analyses revealed the difference of axonal loss rates between group A and B was not statistically significant. Only group C showed statistically higher axonal loss rates in all branches. Conclusion : The study results showed that the patients who had delayed Korean medical treatments had a higher level of facial nerve damage by electromyography. According to the results of this study, early application of integrative Korean medical treatment is suggested.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.45-63
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• 2014

Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical characteristics in children and adolescents with peripheral facial palsy that was treated with Korean medicine. Methods The study was conducted based on 284 cases that consisted of 261 children (less than 19 years old) who visited the hospital of Korean medicine from August 2010 to August 2014. Then, this study was analyzed by reviewing the patients' charts. Results The incidence of facial palsy in pediatric patients was more common in boys than in girls and the mean age was 11.2 years. The prevalence of facial palsy was more common in winter and most were diagnosed with Bell's palsy. Recurrence was identified in 12.6% of the patients. The average age of the first attack was 9.5 years. It took about 3.2 years for recurrence to occur from the first onset. It took about 5 days to visit the hospital of Korean medicine from the onset. 81% of the patients came within 1 week from the onset. 50.7% of the cases did not receive any treatment before and 49.3% were previously treated at other hospitals. More than half of the patients (65.1%) received Korean medicine first. 54.6% of the patients were hospitalized and 45.4% received outpatient treatments in the hospital of Korean medicine. Outpatient treatments were administered about 11.5 times while hospitalized patients were treated for an average of 16.6 days. In general, hospitalized patients were treated more often than the outpatient group. An overall average duration of treatment was 70.6 days from the onset of facial palsy until the last day of treatment, and 53.0 days from the first day of treatment until the last day of treatment. 41.5% of the cases were treated only with Korean medicine and 49.0% were treated with a combination of Korean and Western medicine. The types of Korean medicine treatment used for facial palsy in descending order of frequency were acupuncture, Infra red, herbal medicine, SSP therapy, electro-acupuncture, carbone, hot pack, cupping, and moxibustion. The treatments that were most frequently used from Western medicines were steroid as monotherapy (61.7%) and a combination of steroids and antiviral therapy (37.6%). Conclusions This result showed that the risk of facial palsy recurrence among children is relatively high and that facial palsy requires a long-term treatment. It's helpful to explain about prognosis, treatment duration, and recurrence potential in children. Facial palsy in children is treated in various ways but more studies about the therapeutic effects of Korean medicine, Western medicine, and combination of Korean-Western medicine in children are needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.167-175
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• 2015

Objectives : This study was performed to confirm the effectiveness of East-West collaborative hospital treatment on the prognosis of Bell's palsy. Methods : We screened patients who visited the Facial Palsy Center in Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital at Gangdong between June 2006 and June 2014 by inclusion/exclusion criteria. We reviewed the medical records of 270 patients, including demographics and results of electromyography. We tried to compare the recovery rate of Bell's palsy in the medical records with that of the previous study by calculating the odds ratio after 2, 3 and 6 months from the onset. Results : The odds ratio between our data and that from the previous study after 6 months from the onset was 4.899. Additionally, the odds ratios after 2 and 3 months from the onset were 1.471 and 2.054, respectively. All the odds ratios showed statistical significance. Conclusions : East-West collaborative hospital treatment showed significant effectiveness on the prognosis of Bell's palsy.