• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.978-989
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• 2024

Introduction: This report describes a case of locked-in syndrome (LIS) due to a bilateral pontine infarction. Case Presentation: A patient with LIS showed worsening despite treatment with thrombolytics, anticoagulants, and antiplatelet agents for acute pontine infarction. On the 8th day post-infarction, the patient was referred to the Internal Korean Medicine Department and received 83 days of acupuncture therapy. Treatments were conducted daily, excluding holidays and Sundays, for 15 minutes at various acupoints, including Baihui (GV20), Qubin (GB7), Jianyu (LI15), and Hegu (LI4). Muscle strength was assessed using manual muscle testing (MMT). Post-treatment, improvements were observed: right upper extremity strength increased from grades 0 and 1 to 2 and 4, while right lower extremity strength increased from 0 and 0 to 2 and 3; the results were similar for both left extremities. Conclusion: Acupuncture therapy led to a noticeable improvement in muscle strength in the LIS patient.