Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for acute Bell’s facial paralysis.Methods The articles on relevant randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for acute Bell’s facial paralysis were searched in the Cochrane Library

MEDLINE

EMBASE

Chinese Biomedicine Database（CBM）

China National Knowledge Internet（CNKI）and VIP database.The risk of bias was evaluated with Cochrane reviews handbook 5.0and the efficacy was analyzed based on metaanalysis with Review Manage 5.0software.Results Totally 17articles and 1 564cases were included.The articles existed a high risk of bias with low quality.There was no significant difference in efficacy between acupuncture and western medicine（RR=1.16

95%CI[0.93

1.45]

Z=1.28

P=0.20>0.05）.The efficacy of acupuncture combined with western medicine was superior to that of simple western medicine（RR=1.25

95%CI[1.08

1.46]

Z=2.91

P=0.004<0.05）.The efficacy of acupuncture was superior to that of TDP irradiation（RR=1.67

95%CI[1.21

2.31]

Z=3.15

P=0.002<0.05）.No reports on side-effect were described in 17articles.Conclusion As a safe and effective therapy

acupuncutre should be applied in treatment of Bell’s facial paralysis in acute stage

and combination of acupuncture and western medicine may improve the efficacy.More high-quality evidences are needed.