Acupuncture: Does it alleviate pain and are there serious risks? A review of reviews

@article{Ernst2011AcupunctureDI,
  title={Acupuncture: Does it alleviate pain and are there serious risks? A review of reviews},
  author={Edzard Ernst and Myeong Soo Lee and Tae-Young Choi},
  journal={PAIN{\textregistered}},
  year={2011},
  volume={152},
  pages={755-764}
}
&NA; Acupuncture is commonly used for pain control, but doubts about its effectiveness and safety remain. This review was aimed at critically evaluating systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of pain and at summarizing reports of serious adverse effects published since 2000. Literature searches were carried out in 11 databases without language restrictions. Systematic reviews were considered for the evaluation of effectiveness and case series or case reports for summarizing adverse… Expand
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195 Citations
Background Citations
21
Methods Citations
3
Results Citations
3

195 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Journal Club
  • Complementary Medicine Research
  • 2011
Acupuncture is commonly used for pain control, but doubts about its effectiveness and safety remain. This review was aimed at critically evaluating systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of… Expand
Acupuncture for Low Back Pain: An Overview of Systematic Reviews
TLDR
Systematic reviews of variable quality showed that acupuncture, either used in isolation or as an adjunct to conventional therapy, provides short-term improvements in pain and function for chronic LBP. Expand
Safety of Acupuncture: Overview of Systematic Reviews
Acupuncture is increasingly used worldwide. It is becoming more accepted by both patients and healthcare providers. However, the current understanding of its adverse events (AEs) is fragmented. We… Expand
A systematic review of reviews of systematic reviews of acupuncture
TLDR
Conclusions were positive for nausea and vomiting and some types of pain, but negative for smoking cessation, and recommend that high-quality RCTs should be conducted in the areas where most promise has already been shown. Expand
Acupuncture for the Relief of Chronic Pain: A Synthesis of Systematic Reviews
TLDR
It is suggested that an enriched enrolment with randomised withdrawal design may overcome some of these methodological shortcomings of RCTs and improve the quality of evidence so that healthcare providers and commissioners can make informed choices on the interventions which can legitimately be provided to patients living with chronic pain. Expand
Acupuncture’s claims punctured: Not proven effective for pain, not harmless
TLDR
Take as a whole, the published evidence leads to the conclusion that acupuncture is no more effective than placebo, and Ernst et al. Expand
Acupuncture for Erectile Dysfunction: A Systematic Review
TLDR
The available evidence supporting that acupuncture alone improves ED was insufficient and the available studies failed to show the specific therapeutic effect of acupuncture, suggesting that acupuncture combined with psychological therapy was superior to psychological therapy alone. Expand
The Immediate Analgesic Effect of Acupuncture for Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
TLDR
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on disease-related pain to critically evaluate the immediate effect of acupuncture for pain relief found acupuncture was associated with a greater immediate pain relief effect compared to sham acupuncture and analgesic injections. Expand
How do Systematic Reviews of Acupuncture for Pain Relief Incorporate Risk of Bias Assessments into the Synthesis? A Methodological Study
TLDR
The aim of this study was to identify how critical appraisals of risk of bias (RoB) inform the synthesis of evidence in SRs of acupuncture for pain relief, and nearly half of them failed to incorporate the RoB assessment into the synthesis. Expand
Adverse Events of Acupuncture: A Systematic Review of Case Reports
TLDR
An evaluation of the frequency and severity of adverse events reported for acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping between 2000 and 2011 found the majority of infections to be bacterial, caused by skin contact at acupoint sites; no cases of hepatitis were found. Expand
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References

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Is acupuncture effective for the treatment of chronic pain? A systematic review
TLDR
There is limited evidence thatupuncture is more effective than no treatment for chronic pain; and inconclusive evidence that acupuncture is moreeffective than placebo, sham acupuncture or standard care; however, an important relationship between the methodology of the studies and their results is found that should guide future research. Expand
Acupuncture analgesia during surgery: a systematic review
TLDR
This review does not support the use of acupuncture as an adjunct to standard anaesthetic procedures during surgery and strong evidence exists that real acupuncture is not significantly different from placebo acupuncture. Expand
Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review
TLDR
There is moderate evidence that acupuncture is more effective than no treatment, and strong evidence of no significant difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture, for short-term pain relief, but the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with other forms of conventional therapies still requires further investigation. Expand
The Safety of Acupuncture – Evidence from the Uk
TLDR
The risks associated with acupuncture can be classified as negligible, and acupuncture is a very safe treatment in the hands of competent practitioners. Expand
[Evidence for laser acupuncture in cases of orthopedic diseases : a systematic review].
TLDR
Better, well designed randomized studies with higher power are mandatory in orthopedic diseases and laser acupuncture is advantageous in terms of side effects compared to classical acupuncture techniques. Expand
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TLDR
A large number of systematic reviews on acupuncture exists, and what is most obvious from these reviews is the need for well-designed, larger clinical trials. Expand
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TLDR
The evidence for acupuncture as an adjunct to conventional pain control during labor is promising but, because of the paucity of trial data, not convincing. Expand
Prospective studies of the safety of acupuncture: a systematic review.
TLDR
Although the incidence of minor adverse events associated with acupuncture may be considerable, serious adverse events are rare and those responsible for establishing competence in acupuncture should consider how to reduce these risks. Expand
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TLDR
The notion that acupuncture is an effective symptomatic treatment for fibromyaligia is not supported by the results from rigorous clinical trials and, on the basis of this evidence, acupuncture cannot be recommended for Fibromyalgia. Expand
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TLDR
Findings agreed with previous literature reviews that the majority of studies of acupuncture for migraine research are of poor quality, with conflicting results, and large, high quality randomized controlled trials ofupuncture for migraine are needed. Expand
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