Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for primary dysmenorrhoea

Proctor, Michelle; Farquhar, Cindy; Stones, Will; He, Li; Zhu, Xiaoshu; Brown, Julie

doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002123

Cited by 202 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

128

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Evidence from a Cochrane systematic review of acupuncture to treat period pain included one small trial and showed acupuncture to be significantly more effective for pain relief (odds ratio 9.49, 95% CI 1.74-51.80), use of analgesics (weighted mean difference [WMD] Ϫ0.35, 95% CI Ϫ1.06 to 0.36). 95 More recently published trials also suggest a benefit from acupuncture. One (1) placebo-controlled trial of acupuncture for PMS was found.…”

Section: Status and Future Of Acupuncture Clinical Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Status and Future of Acupuncture Clinical Research

Park

Linde

Manheimer

et al. 2008

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

On November 8-9, 2007, the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) hosted an international conference to mark the tenth anniversary of the landmark National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture. More than 300 acupuncture researchers, practitioners, students, funding agency personnel, and health policy analysts from 20 countries attended the SAR meeting held at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. This paper summarizes important invited lectures in the area of clinical research. Specifically, included are: a review of the recently conducted German trials and observational studies on low-back pain (LBP), gonarthrosis, migraine, and tension-type headache (the Acupuncture Research Trials and the German Acupuncture Trials, plus observational studies); a systematic review of acupuncture treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA); and an overview of acupuncture trials in neurologic conditions, LBP, women's health, psychiatric disorders, and functional bowel disorders. A summary of the use of acupuncture in cancer care is also provided. Researchers involved in the German trials concluded that acupuncture is effective for treating chronic pain, but the correct selection of acupuncture points seems to play a limited role; no conclusions could be drawn about the placebo aspect of acupuncture, due to the design of the studies. Overall, when compared to sham, acupuncture did not show a benefit in treating knee OA or LBP, but acupuncture was better than a wait-list control and standard of care, respectively. In women's health, acupuncture has been found to be beneficial for patients with premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea, several pregnancy-related conditions, and nausea in females who have cancers. Evidence on moxibustion for breech presentation, induction of labor, and reduction of menopausal symptoms is still inconclusive. In mental health, evidence for acupuncture's efficacy in treating neurologic and functional bowel disorder is still inconclusive. For chronic cancer-related problems such as pain, acupuncture may work well in stand-alone clinics; however, for acute or treatment-related symptoms, integration of acupuncture care into a busy and complex clinical environment is unlikely, unless compelling evidence of a considerable patient benefit can be established.

show abstract

Section: Status and Future Of Acupuncture Clinical Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Status and Future of Acupuncture Clinical Research

Park

Linde

Manheimer

et al. 2008

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…17,18 Only three reviews of acupuncture for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea are currently available. One 19 included only one trial of acupuncture, and another 20 included two acupuncture and two acupressure trials. The…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhoea: a systematic review

Cho

2010

BJOG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The effectiveness of acupuncture in primary dysmenorrhoea is not fully understood.Objectives To assess the effectiveness of acupuncture for the symptomatic treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea from randomised controlled trials (RCTs).Search strategy Nineteen electronic databases, including English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese databases, were systematically searched for RCTs investigating acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhoea up to July 2008 with no language restrictions.Selection criteria All RCTs that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared with controls were included. Studies that assessed the effect of moxibustion or body acupressure were excluded.Data collection and analysis The study abstraction and quality assessment of all studies were undertaken following the detailed descriptions of these categories as described in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.Main results Twenty-seven RCTs were systematically reviewed. Only nine of the 27 trials clearly described their methods of randomisation and none of the trials stated the methods of allocation concealment. Compared with pharmacological treatment or herbal medicine, acupuncture was associated with a significant reduction in pain. Three studies reported reduced pain within groups from baseline; however, two RCTs did not find a significant difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture.Author's conclusions The review found promising evidence in the form of RCTs for the use of acupuncture in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea compared with pharmacological treatment or herbal medicine. However, the results were limited by methodological flaws. The evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea is not convincing compared with sham acupuncture. Further rigorous nonpenetrating placebo-controlled RCTs are warranted.

show abstract

“…Data are limited on patterns of use, but utilization data from the UK indicate acupuncture is used to assist with the management of gynecological or obstetric conditions by 8% of women 7 . Traditional acupuncture has been documented as successful in the treatment of dysmenorrhea by Macpherson et al 7 and Proctor et al 8 .…”

Section: Effectiveness Of Acupuncture and Acupuncture-like Transcutanmentioning

confidence: 99%