Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
CMAJ. 2012 Mar 6;184(4):401-10. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.110551. Epub 2012 Jan 9.
Acupuncture is commonly used to treat migraine. We assessed the efficacy of acupuncture at migraine-specific acupuncture points compared with other acupuncture points and sham acupuncture.
We performed a multicentre, single-blind randomized controlled trial. In total, 480 patients with migraine were randomly assigned to one of four groups (Shaoyang-specific acupuncture, Shaoyang-nonspecific acupuncture, Yangming-specific acupuncture or sham acupuncture [control]). All groups received 20 treatments, which included electrical stimulation, over a period of four weeks. The primary outcome was the number of days with a migraine experienced during weeks 5-8 after randomization. Our secondary outcomes included the frequency of migraine attack, migraine intensity and migraine-specific quality of life.
Compared with patients in the control group, patients in the acupuncture groups reported fewer days with a migraine during weeks 5-8, however the differences between treatments were not significant (p > 0.05). There was a significant reduction in the number of days with a migraine during weeks 13-16 in all acupuncture groups compared with control (Shaoyang-specific acupuncture v. control: difference -1.06 [95% confidence interval (CI) -1.77 to -0.5], p = 0.003; Shaoyang-nonspecific acupuncture v. control: difference -1.22 [95% CI -1.92 to -0.52], p < 0.001; Yangming-specific acupuncture v. control: difference -0.91 [95% CI -1.61 to -0.21], p = 0.011). We found that there was a significant, but not clinically relevant, benefit for almost all secondary outcomes in the three acupuncture groups compared with the control group. We found no relevant differences between the three acupuncture groups.
Acupuncture tested appeared to have a clinically minor effect on migraine prophylaxis compared with sham acupuncture.
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00599586.
针灸常用于治疗偏头痛。我们评估了针对偏头痛特定穴位的针灸与其他穴位和假针灸相比的疗效。
我们进行了一项多中心、单盲随机对照试验。共有 480 名偏头痛患者被随机分为四组（少阳特定穴位、少阳非特定穴位、阳明特定穴位或假针灸[对照]）。所有组均接受 20 次治疗，为期四周，包括电刺激。主要结局是随机分组后第 5-8 周偏头痛发作天数。我们的次要结局包括偏头痛发作频率、偏头痛强度和偏头痛特异性生活质量。
与对照组相比，针灸组患者在第 5-8 周偏头痛发作天数较少，但治疗组之间差异无统计学意义（p>0.05）。所有针灸组在第 13-16 周偏头痛发作天数均较对照组显著减少（少阳特定穴位与对照组相比：差异-1.06[95%置信区间（CI）-1.77 至-0.5]，p=0.003；少阳非特定穴位与对照组相比：差异-1.22[95%CI-1.92 至-0.52]，p<0.001；阳明特定穴位与对照组相比：差异-0.91[95%CI-1.61 至-0.21]，p=0.011）。我们发现，与对照组相比，几乎所有次要结局在三组针灸组中都有显著但无临床意义的益处。我们未发现三组针灸组之间存在相关差异。
与假针灸相比，针对偏头痛特定穴位的针灸在偏头痛预防方面似乎具有临床轻度效果。
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00599586。
