Efficacy of Snap-Needle Patch Therapy in Pediatric Epilepsy: A Case Study

Jia Shi^1,2Yu Gong³Yuanyuan Deng^2,3HanYing Tan^2,3ZiChun Xiao³Zhen Ma^2,3WeiLan Qin^2*

• ¹The Second Clinical Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
• ²The Second Clinical Medical School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
• ³Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China

Background: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in early childhood. Benign epilepsy of childhood with central temporal spikes (BECTS), the most prevalent self-limited focal epilepsy (SeLFE) in children, accounts for 6%–7% of all childhood epilepsy cases. This study reports a child with poorly controlled epilepsy via oral medication: after 3 months of additional snap-needle therapy, seizures ceased, oral medication was gradually reduced to discontinuation, and no recurrence was observed in 1 year of post-discontinuation follow-up. Case Summary: A 10-year-old male first experienced generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) at age 7 during sleep; EEG showed abnormal waves. Over the next 3 years, he had 2–3 GTCS annually, with disease progression despite repeated antiepileptic drug (AED) adjustments. After starting TCM-guided snap-needle patch therapy, seizures stopped, and follow-up is ongoing. Conclusion: This is the first reported case of BECTS treated with snap-needle therapy. Post-snap-needle intervention, the child’s GTCS resolved, oral AEDs were discontinued, and no recurrence occurred in 1 year (noting that AED adjustments and BECTS’ self-limiting nature cannot be ruled out). We hypothesize snap-needle therapy may be associated with seizure remission. Though its mechanism remains unclear, the child achieved a QOLCE-16-C score of 98.4 post-treatment, and nighttime sleep disruptions dropped from 2–5 yearly to 0 in 1 year of follow-up—outcomes superior to sole pharmacological intervention.