Two (2) important reviews of acupuncture in stroke rehabilitation
have been published in 1996.1,2 These reviews
are open to criticism because the literature was not searched
systematically2 or inappropriate studies were not excluded.1
Moreover, new data have been published since that time. In
2001 Park and colleagues published a systematic review of
the previous publications.4 They focused only on the shamcontrolled
randomized clinical trials. They searched 25 databases
and 12 major Korean traditional medicine journals.
Based on the evidence of rigorous randomized controlled
trials, they found there is no compelling evidence to show
that acupuncture is effective in stroke rehabilitation. They
suggested better-designed studies need to be done. Since that
time, a few randomized controlled trials, reviews, and metaanalyses
were performed, but the picture still is not clear.5–8
In the previously cited studies, the traditional form of
acupuncture was used to treat the patients, but in the last
few decades some new forms of acupuncture were developed.
One of these is Yamamoto’s New Scalp Acupuncture
(YNSA)