[Acupuncture in pain therapy].

The neurobiological mechanisms of acupuncture have been investigated in many cases and provide plausible explanatory approaches for its effectiveness. However, only some of these mechanisms depend on the ,,point-specifity". Evaluation following evidence-based medicine criteria shows level 1 evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture for post-operative dental pain as well as for nausea and vomiting. In addition there are positive results for the efficacy of acupuncture for treating headaches, lumbar spine pain, temporomandibular dysfunction, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis of the knee and epicondylitis. Acupuncture can be part of a multimodal therapeutic concept for chronic pain disorders with biopsychosocial components.