JOURNAL of MULTISCALE NEUROSCIENCE

REVIEW 

Spinal cord injury (SCI) simultaneously causes multiple and interrelated pathophysiological disorders throughout the nervous system, hindering the development of effective treatment strategies. Mechanistically, SCI triggers excitatory signaling activation, downregulation of the inhibitory system, neuronal death, followed by the development of new synaptic circuits and reorganization, leading to chronic neurological dysfunctions and mental disorders. Therefore, a simultaneous treatment strategy, known as overlapping treatment, is needed. Over decades, both preclinical and clinical studies have established that acupuncture treatment offers neuroprotection, pain attenuation, improvement of functional recovery, and promotes reward behaviors, suggesting potential roles of acupuncture in post-SCI treatment. Recently, the importance of overlapping treatment has been recognized in developing effective treatments for post-SCI pathophysiology. However, there has been no systematic study investigating the role of acupuncture in various SCI pathophysiology. In this review, we briefly address the mechanisms of post-SCI pathophysiology and discuss the potential therapeutic effects of acupuncture, suggesting its feasibility as a treatment for post-SCI pathophysiology.

​

Keywords: Acupuncture, neuropathic pain, neurological recovery, overlapping treatment, spinal cord injury

​

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest

​

Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Neural Press.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the CC BY 4.0 license.

​

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, Neural Press™  or the editors, and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.