Clinical Efficacy of Syndrome-Differentiated Acupuncture-Based Therapy Combined With Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Patients Following Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair: A Retrospective Study

Objective: To investigate the effects of syndrome-differentiated acupuncture-based therapy combined with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in patients following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Methods: This retrospective study included 160 patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery at our hospital between January 2023 and December 2025. Patients who received NMES treatment only were assigned to the NMES group ( n = 100), whereas those who received additional syndrome-differentiated acupuncture-based therapy were assigned to the combination group ( n = 60). After applying propensity score matching (PSM) with a caliper of 0.2 standard deviations, 55 well-matched pairs were generated for the final analysis. The visual analog scale (VAS), Constant–Murley score (CMS), and shoulder range of motion (ROM) were compared between the two groups at baseline, Week 3, Week 6, and 3-month follow-up. The rotator cuff quality of life index (RC-QOL) was compared at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Results: After PSM, baseline data were well balanced between the two groups (all p > .05). At Week 3, Week 6, and 3-month follow-up, the combination group had significantly lower VAS scores, higher CMS scores, and greater shoulder ROM than the NMES group (all p < .05). At 3-month follow-up, the combination group had significantly higher RC-QOL scores than the NMES group ( p < .05). The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between groups ( p > .05). Conclusion: Syndrome-differentiated acupuncture-based therapy combined with NMES may help alleviate pain symptoms in patients after rotator cuff repair surgery, promote shoulder joint function recovery, expand joint ROM, and improve patients’ quality of life. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.