Acupuncture Effect on Thermal Tolerance and Electrical Pain Threshold: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Amand, Marc; Nguyen-Huu, Florence; Balestra, Costantino

doi:10.1136/aim.2010.002485

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Nineteen studies (22.4%) compared acupuncture to an inert control such as a placebo pill [26] , [42] , a waiting list [38] , [62] , [68] , or a period of rest [24] , [25] , [27] , [30] , [35] , [47] , [51] , [53] , [56] – [59] , [85] , [99] . In 12 of these studies, acupuncture had a greater effect than the inert control procedure [24] – [26] , [30] , [38] , [51] , [53] , [57] , [58] , [62] , [68] , [85] , while results of six studies indicate no or only a minor change of the respective sensory threshold in any of the study groups [27] , [42] , [47] , [56] , [59] , [99] . Results of one study were unclear .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Acupuncture on Sensory Perception: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Baeumler¹,

Fleckenstein²,

Takayama

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundThe effect of acupuncture on sensory perception has never been systematically reviewed; although, studies on acupuncture mechanisms are frequently based on the idea that changes in sensory thresholds reflect its effect on the nervous system.MethodsPubmed, EMBASE and Scopus were screened for studies investigating the effect of acupuncture on thermal or mechanical detection or pain thresholds in humans published in English or German. A meta-analysis of high quality studies was performed.ResultsOut of 3007 identified articles 85 were included. Sixty five studies showed that acupuncture affects at least one sensory threshold. Most studies assessed the pressure pain threshold of which 80% reported an increase after acupuncture. Significant short- and long-term effects on the pressure pain threshold in pain patients were revealed by two meta-analyses including four and two high quality studies, respectively. In over 60% of studies, acupuncture reduced sensitivity to noxious thermal stimuli, but measuring methods might influence results. Few but consistent data indicate that acupuncture reduces pin-prick like pain but not mechanical detection. Results on thermal detection are heterogeneous. Sensory threshold changes were equally frequent reported after manual acupuncture as after electroacupuncture. Among 48 sham-controlled studies, 25 showed stronger effects on sensory thresholds through verum than through sham acupuncture, but in 9 studies significant threshold changes were also observed after sham acupuncture. Overall, there is a lack of high quality acupuncture studies applying comprehensive assessments of sensory perception.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that acupuncture affects sensory perception. Results are most compelling for the pressure pain threshold, especially in pain conditions associated with tenderness. Sham acupuncture can also cause such effects. Future studies should incorporate comprehensive, standardized assessments of sensory profiles in order to fully characterize its effect on sensory perception and to explore the predictive value of sensory profiles for the effectiveness of acupuncture.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Results of one study were unclear . One article reported a significant change of sensory thresholds after an inert control procedure [24] . All four studies evaluating acupuncture as an add-on treatment reported a significant additional effect [38] , [46] , [70] , [87] .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Acupuncture on Sensory Perception: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Baeumler¹,

Fleckenstein²,

Takayama

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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show abstract

“…In nine other studies (18.8%) no effect was observed neither after verum nor after sham acupuncture [22, 27, 42, 47-49, 99, 103, 104], and the results of three studies (6.3%) were rated as unclear [35,44,45]. None of the twelve studies including both control modalities found significant differences between the sham and the inert control group [24,25,27,30,35,42,47,53,57,62,85,99], although in three of these studies, the pre-post comparison indicates larger effects in the sham than in the inert control group [24,30,53,85].…”

Section: Comparison Of Verum Acupuncture To Inert or Sham-control Promentioning

confidence: 92%

“…In ten studies (58.8%), the CPT was assessed by immersion of the subjects' fingers or forearm into ice-water and documenting either the time until subjects withdrew their limb [24,26,71] or the pain intensity that was experienced during a defined period of immersion into ice water [25, 56-59, 84, 89]. Eight of these ten studies (80%) showed a significant reduction of the CPT after acupuncture.…”

Section: Cold Pain Threshold (Cpt)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Acupuncture on Sensory Perception: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Baeumler¹,

Fleckenstein²,

Takayama

et al. 2015

Deutsche Zeitschrift für Akupunktur

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Background: The effect of acupuncture on sensory perception has never been systematically reviewed; although, studies on acupuncture mechanisms are frequently based on the idea that changes in sensory thresholds reflect its effect on the nervous system. Methods: Pubmed, EMBASE and Scopus were screened for studies investigating the effect of acupuncture on thermal or mechanical detection or pain thresholds in humans published in English or German. A meta-analysis of high quality studies was performed. Results: Out of 3007 identified articles 85 were included. Sixty five studies showed that acupuncture affects at least one sensory threshold. Most studies assessed the pressure pain threshold of which 80% reported an increase after acupuncture. Significant short-and long-term effects on the pressure pain threshold in pain patients were revealed by two meta-analyses including four and two high quality studies, respectively. In over 60% of studies, acupuncture reduced sensitivity to noxious thermal stimuli, but measuring methods might influence results. Few but consistent data indicate that acupuncture reduces pin-prick like pain but not mechanical detection. Results on thermal detection are heterogeneous. Sensory threshold changes were equally frequent reported after manual acupuncture as after electroacupuncture. Among 48 sham-controlled studies, 25 showed stronger effects on sensory thresholds through verum than through sham acupuncture, but in 9 studies significant threshold changes were also observed after sham acupuncture. Overall, there is a lack of high quality acupuncture studies applying comprehensive assessments of sensory perception.

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“…Interestingly, very few studies have investigated the effects of the number of acupuncture needles on experimentally-induced pain. Amand et al 15 found that acupuncture administered using five needles inserted to a depth of 12 mm with bidirectional rotation at verum points produced larger increases in electrical and heat pain thresholds compared with control but not compared with sham needling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation into the Effects of Using Two Or Four Acupuncture Needles with Bidirectional Rotation on Experimentally-Induced Contact Heat Pain in Healthy Subjects

Paley

Johnson

2015

Acupunct Med

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Objectives There is growing evidence from experimental studies that the acupuncture dose or technique influences the speed of onset of hypoalgesia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acupuncture using two or four needles on experimental contact thermal pain in healthy volunteers. Methods Forty two participants were randomised into three groups: four-needle group (LI4, LI11, LI10, TE5), two-needle group (verum at LI4, LI11 and mock at LI10, TE5) and mock acupuncture group (LI4, LI11, LI10, TE5). Each participant rated pain intensity (visual analogue scale, VAS) to a series of noxious stimuli administered to the forearm 2°C above the heat pain threshold during needling and immediately after removal of the needles. Results Experimentally-induced heat pain intensity (VAS) during and after the intervention was lower than pre-intervention but there were no statistically significant differences in this change between groups. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in the time taken for pain intensity to decrease by 33% from pre-intervention. However, a 33% decrease in pain intensity within 3 min of needle insertion was observed for 13 participants (92.9%) in the four-needle group compared with 66.7% of participants in the two-needle group and 57.1% in the mock acupuncture group. There was less variance in VAS in the four-needle group, suggesting more consistency in hypoalgesic response when using more needles. Conclusions There is tentative evidence that four needles may be superior to two needles in generating rapid onset hypoalgesia. The findings suggest that further investigation is warranted.

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Acupuncture Effect on Thermal Tolerance and Electrical Pain Threshold: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Cited by 6 publications

References 29 publications

Effects of Acupuncture on Sensory Perception: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Effects of Acupuncture on Sensory Perception: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Effects of Acupuncture on Sensory Perception: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Investigation into the Effects of Using Two Or Four Acupuncture Needles with Bidirectional Rotation on Experimentally-Induced Contact Heat Pain in Healthy Subjects

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