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Acupuncture for acute migraine attacks in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Wang Y, Du R, Cui H, Zhang L, Yuan H, Zheng S

BMJ evidence-based medicine, 2023

1,926 participants

Abstract

UNLABELLED: Objective To evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture for acute migraine attacks in adults.

DESIGN AND SETTING: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE(OVID), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database and Wanfang database from inception to 15 July 2022. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in Chinese and English comparing acupuncture alone against sham acupuncture/placebo/no treatment/pharmacological therapy or comparing acupuncture plus pharmacological therapy against the same pharmacological therapy. Results were reported as risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous outcomes or mean differences (MDs) for continuous outcomes, with 95% CIs. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane tool and the certainty of the evidence (CoE) with GRADE. : Main outcome measures : a) The rate of headache freedom (pain score=0) at 2h after the treatment; b) the rate of headache relief (at least 50% reduction of pain score); c) headache intensity at 2h after the treatment(study data from scales measuring pain intensity, including visual analogue scale, numerical rating scale) d) the improvement of headache intensity at 2h after the treatment; e) the improvement values of migraine-associated symptoms; f) adverse events.

RESULTS: We included 21 RCTs from 15 studies with 1926 participants comparing acupuncture against other interventions. Comparing to sham acupuncture or placebo,…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 1,926 participants or records.

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