Electroacupuncture is Beneficial for Primary Dysmenorrhea: The Evidence from Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) is considered to be a promising alternative therapy to relieve the menstrual pain for primary dysmenorrhea (PD), but the conclusion is controversial. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis specifically to evaluate the clinical efficacy from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the use of EA in patients with PD. PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Science, CENTRAL, CNKI, and Wanfang were searched to identify RCTs that evaluated the effectiveness of EA for PD. The outcome measurements included visual analogue scale (VAS), verbal rating scale (VRS), COX retrospective symptom scale (RSS), and the curative rate. Nine RCTs with high risk of bias were included for meta-analysis. The combined VAS 30 minutes after the completion of intervention favoured EA at SP6 when compared with EA at GB39, nonacupoints, and waiting-list groups. EA was superior to pharmacological treatment when the treatment duration lasted for three menstrual cycles, evidenced by significantly higher curative rate. No statistically significant differences between EA at SP6 and control groups were found regarding the VRS, RSS-COX1, and RSS-COX2. The findings of our study suggested that EA can provide considerable immediate analgesia effect for PD. Additional studies with rigorous design and larger sample sizes are needed.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Patterns Predict Acupuncture Treatment Response in Primary Dysmenorrhea

“…The National Institutes of Health has also recommended acupuncture as an effective tool for certain health problems, including menstrual pain (Campbell and McGrath, 1999). Subsequently, the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for PDM have been reported in our systematic review (Yu et al, 2017) and several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (Witt et al, 2008;Ma et al, 2013;Armour et al, 2017).…”

Effect of acupuncture and its influence on cerebral activity in patients with persistent asthma: study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…Since then, a few longitudinal studies have begun to uncover functional alterations in the brain due to treatment for asthma. For instance, Yu et al [26] investigated the spontaneous brain activity with resting-state fMRI before and after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in adult patients with asthma. They reported that the beneficial effects of CBT on asthma control were associated with the reversed abnormal spontaneous brain activity in the bilateral occipital lobe and sensorimotor cortex.…”

Effect of acupuncture and its influence on cerebral activity in patients with persistent asthma: study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…Subsequently, a few longitudinal studies have begun to uncover functional alterations in the brain due to treatment for asthma. For instance, Zhang et al (26) investigated the spontaneous brain activity with resting-state fMRI before and after cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) in adult asthmatic patients. They reported that the beneficial effects of GCBT on asthma control level were associated with the reversed abnormal spontaneous brain activity in the bilateral occipital lobe and sensorimotor cortex.…”