Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Αποκατάσταση Βλαβών Νωτιαίου Μυελού. Διαχείριση του πόνου Σπονδυλικής προέλευσηςLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Supervisors info:
Βλάμης Ιωάννης, Επικ. Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ευαγγελόπουλος Δημήτριος-Στέργιος, Ακαδ. Υπότροφος, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Μπενέτος Ιωάννης, Ακαδ. Υπότροφος , Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
H χρήση του βελονισμού στην αποκατάσταση ασθενών με κάκωση του νωτιαίου μυελού
Translated title:
Use of acupuncture in the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury
Summary:
Although almost all people surviving spinal cord injury (SCI) show some recovery in motor and sensory function below the initial level of SCI, spontaneous recovery in patients with complete SCI is quite limited. However, there have been reports of improvement of patients after surgery, pharmacological interventions, and alternative medical approaches such as acupuncture. The purpose of this study was to review the use of acupuncture in the rehabilitation of patients with SCI. The present study is a narrative review of the current literature. For this purpose, the online PUBMED database was used and the PRISMA guidelines were applied. Articles were searched using the following keywords: "acupuncture" AND ("spinal cord injuries" OR "spinal cord injury" OR "tetraplegia" OR "quadriplegia"). Inclusion criteria were: human studies, studies written in English language and studies evaluating the use of acupuncture in the rehabilitation of SCI patients. Finally, 14 human studies were identified for analysis, which were included in the present review. There is emerging evidence that acupuncture may have a beneficial effect in the rehabilitation of SCI patients, particularly in terms of motor and sensory function recovery, control of chronic pain, neurogenic bladder and bowel and secondary osteoporosis. However, high quality studies are scarce. Further prospective, randomized, controlled studies are needed in order to fully elucidate the role of acupuncture in the rehabilitation of SCI patients.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Acupuncture, Rehabilitation, Spinal cord injury
