Eye acupuncture for pain conditions: a scoping review of clinical studies

Abstract

Background Chinese eye acupuncture, focuses on treating different diseases by applying needle stimulation around the orbit of the eye. Since 1970, it has been used in China for the management of pain-related disorders. This scoping review systematically collected clinical studies on the use of eye acupuncture to treat pain conditions and identify any adverse events. Methods Six databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, Wan Fang Data and SinoMed were searched from 1970 to March 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), clinical controlled trials (CCTs) and case series on eye-acupuncture for pain conditions meeting the inclusion criteria were identified. Data were extracted on patients, interventions, details of eye acupuncture, control treatments and outcomes. Results Searches identified 81 clinical studies and a trend demonstrating an increasing number of published studies. All studies were conducted in China and published in Chinese. These included, 45 (55.6%) RCTs, 5 (6.2%) CCTs, and 31 (38.3%) case series, treating 7113 patients with 44 different pain-related diseases or symptoms. The most frequently reported conditions were headache (18, 16.2%), acute lumbar pain (7, 6.3%) and lumbar disc herniation (7, 6.3%). Treatment using small needles (φ0.25 × 13 mm), retained ≤30 min, needling the horizontal outer orbital edge and the avoidance of manipulation during treatment were the most frequent descriptions of the interventions used. Eye acupuncture was used alone in about half of the studies and of the remaining studies it was combined with other treatment. All studies suggested some beneficial effects including: pain relief, improved quality of life and mental health, and 18 (22.2%) adverse events. Conclusion Eye acupuncture, predominantly studied in China, may be a promising intervention for managing diverse pain conditions. However, given the variety of study designs and reported treatment outcomes, conclusions about the evidence for eye acupuncture for specific conditions are not possible at this stage.

Severe Adverse Events of Periocular Acupuncture: A Review of Cases

“…Since modern acupuncture, which is currently being practiced in several countries, emphasizes knowledge of eye anatomy and aseptic acupuncture, it is supposedly less likely to cause periocular adverse events. Periocular acupuncture is being performed worldwide for many ophthalmologic and nonophthalmologic conditions, such as headache, trigeminal neuralgia, neck stiffness, and acute lumbar sprain [17,26]. The incidence of complications, including perforation, is likely to increase as the acupuncture site is in close contact with the orbital margin.…”

“…Periorbital acupuncture was used not only for ophthalmologic diseases, but also for nonophthalmologic diseases, such as headaches, acute lumbar pain, and lumbar disc herniation, based on the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine on the relationship among the eyes, brain, viscera, and meridians [ 26 ]. Moreover, “eye acupuncture” using the 13 acupuncture points around the eyes have been developed and studied since 1970, and the referred acupoints are the lung, large intestine, kidney, bladder, upper jiao, liver, gallbladder, middle jiao, heart, small intestine, spleen, stomach, and lower jiao ( Fig.…”

“…Moreover, “eye acupuncture” using the 13 acupuncture points around the eyes have been developed and studied since 1970, and the referred acupoints are the lung, large intestine, kidney, bladder, upper jiao, liver, gallbladder, middle jiao, heart, small intestine, spleen, stomach, and lower jiao ( Fig. 1 ) [ 26 ].…”

The relationship of publication language, study population, risk of bias, and treatment effects in acupuncture related systematic reviews: a meta-epidemiologic study

“…The number of publications on acupuncture from Chinese institutions is increasing: according to a survey, studies from China accounted for 47% of the 13,320 acupuncture-related publications indexed in PubMed from 1995 to 2014 [10]. To avoid missing potentially relevant Chinese-language literature on acupuncture, many researchers have begun to search and include acupuncture studies in Chinese in their SR/MAs [11][12][13].…”

The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture kinesitherapy after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with coronary heart disease: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…However, two systematic reviews [25,26] showed that KT had no significant effect on restenosis, recurrence of myocardial infarction, improvement of cardiac function, and reduction of adverse cardiovascular events in patients after PCI. acupuncture around the orbital margin is recognized as a sort of micro-acupuncture, which can activate the meridians, invigorate blood, relieve pain and regulate viscera functions by stimulating acupoints around the orbital margin [28,29]. According to the Meridian Theory of the Traditional Chinese Medicine [30,31], the tissue around the eye is closely related to the Zang and Fu organs, and acupuncture around the eye is effective in treating heart diseases.…”