Efficacy of Acupuncture for Acute Migraine Attack: A Multicenter Single Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Author: Wang LP, Zhang XZ, Guo J, Liu HL, Zhang Y, Liu CZ, Yi JH, Wang LP, Zhao JP, Li SS.
Affiliation: Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Tiantan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, the Third Hospital of Peking University, Beijing Quintiles Medical Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Beijing Branch, Beijing Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Huguosi Hospital Affiliated to the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Conference/Journal: Pain Med
Date published: 2012 Apr 26
Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01376.x. , Word Count: 163



Objective.  We aim to investigate the efficacy of acupuncture for acute migraine attacks comparing with sham acupuncture. Design.  The study was designed as a multicenter, single-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting and Patients.  From March 2007 to February 2009, 150 patients were randomly allocated to verum or sham acupuncture group in a ratio of 1:1. Interventions.  Every patient received a verum or sham acupuncture treatment when having a migraine attack and, medications were allowed if the pain failed to be relieved two hours after the acupuncture. Outcome Measures.  The primary outcome was visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain, ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain ever). Results.  The mean VAS scores 24 hours after treatment decreased from 5.7 ± 1.4 to 3.3 ± 2.5 in the verum acupuncture group, and from 5.4 ± 1.3 to 4.7 ± 2.4 in the sham acupuncture group. Significant differences existed between the two groups (P = 0.001). Conclusions.  This trial suggested that verum acupuncture group was superior to sham acupuncture group on relieving pain and reducing the usage of acute medication.
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PMID: 22536889