Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, (Sichuan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024 Sep 3;24(1):326. doi: 10.1186/s12906-024-04630-y.
The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy to delay lung function decline in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain unclear. This study aimed to determine whether acupuncture, as an adjunctive therapy to COPD-guided medication, could prevent lung function decline.
This randomised, two-centre study was conducted between February 2022 and July 2023. Men and women aged 40-80 years with COPD were recruited. Participants received active or sham acupuncture three times a week (36 sessions total). The primary outcome was the change in the percentage of forced expiratory volume for 1 s to the predicted value (FEV1%) between the baseline and after the intervention.
Overall, 238 participants were screened, and 74 (58 men [78.4%]; mean [standard deviation] age, 69.6 [7.2] years) were randomised into the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups (37 per group). After the intervention, the change in FEV1% was 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.47 to 3.17) and -2.44 (95% CI: -4.56 to -0.33) in the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups, respectively. The difference was -3.97 (95% CI: -6.2 to -1.74), and the adjusted difference was -3.46 (95% CI: -5.69 to -1.24, P = 0.003) between the groups. A significantly less decline was found in forced expiratory volume for 1 s in the acupuncture group. All treatment-related adverse events (acupuncture = 11, sham = 2) were mild.
Compared with sham acupuncture, acupuncture plus medication may delay lung function decline. However, further studies with a larger sample size and longer-term follow-up are needed to clarify the effects.
针灸疗法对慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）患者肺功能下降的疗效和安全性尚不清楚。本研究旨在确定针灸作为 COPD 药物治疗的辅助疗法，是否可以预防肺功能下降。
这是一项随机、双中心研究，于 2022 年 2 月至 2023 年 7 月进行。纳入年龄在 40-80 岁之间的男性和女性 COPD 患者。参与者每周接受 3 次真/假针灸治疗（共 36 次）。主要结局是从基线到干预后的 1 秒用力呼气量占预计值的百分比（FEV1%）的变化。
共有 238 名患者接受了筛选，74 名（58 名男性[78.4%]；平均[标准差]年龄，69.6[7.2]岁）被随机分为针灸组和假针灸组（每组 37 名）。干预后，FEV1%的变化分别为针灸组 1.35（95%置信区间：-0.47 至 3.17）和假针灸组-2.44（95%置信区间：-4.56 至 -0.33）。两组间的差异为-3.97（95%置信区间：-6.2 至 -1.74），调整后的差异为-3.46（95%置信区间：-5.69 至 -1.24，P=0.003）。针灸组的 1 秒用力呼气量下降幅度明显较小。所有与治疗相关的不良事件（针灸组 11 例，假针灸组 2 例）均为轻度。
与假针灸相比，针灸联合药物治疗可能延缓肺功能下降。然而，需要更大样本量和更长随访时间的进一步研究来阐明其效果。
