Clinical Effects of Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture in Patients with Bell’s Palsy: A Narrative Review of Comparative Studies

This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of bee venom pharmacopuncture in patients with Bell’s palsy by synthesizing evidence from several comparative clinical studies. A narrative review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Studies published between January 2000 and March 2025 were searched in domestic (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Research Information Sharing Service, Korean Studies Information Service System, and DBpia) and international databases (PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure). Clinical studies investigating bee venom pharmacopuncture were included. The major outcome measures included the Yanagihara score (Y-score), House–Brackmann (H–B) grade, recovery period, and other clinical indicators. A total of five studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. All included studies investigated patients with acute-stage Bell’s palsy. Bee venom pharmacopuncture was associated with improvements in major clinical outcomes, including the Y-score and H–B grade, as well as accelerated recovery. In particular, studies comparing bee venom pharmacopuncture combined with acupuncture to acupuncture alone reported greater therapeutic effects. In contrast, comparative studies assessing other interventions such as Jungsongouhyul pharmacopuncture, hominis placenta pharmacopuncture, and needle-embedding acupuncture did not show statistically significant differences in the treatment outcomes.