Acupuncture’s Effects in Treating the Sequelae of Acute and Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries: A Review of Allopathic and Traditional Chinese Medicine Literature

This review explores how acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine technique, might help people with spinal cord injuries (SCI). SCI can lead to various problems like paralysis, loss of sensation, pain, and bladder/bowel issues. The review looks at both Western and traditional Chinese studies to understand if acupuncture can improve motor function, sensory perception, and bladder/bowel control in SCI patients. It also examines the possible ways acupuncture might work on the body. Acupuncture may help manage chronic pain related to SCI. The review suggests that acupuncture could be a useful addition to standard treatments for SCI, potentially improving patients' quality of life and reducing healthcare costs.

• 1
  Electroacupuncture in acute SCI may significantly improve long-term neurologic recovery in terms of motor, sensory, and bowel/bladder function with essentially no risk.
• 2
  Acupuncture may improve neurourologic function in individuals with chronic SCI and help with management of chronic pain associated with these injuries.
• 3
  Electroacupuncture produced statistically significant improvement in bowel FIM scores 1 year post injury compared to control group receiving no acupuncture.