Is acupuncture in addition to conventional medicine effective as pain treatment for endometriosis? A randomised controlled cross-over trial.
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
; 153(1): 90-3, 2010 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20728977
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of the study was to examine whether acupuncture is an effective additional pain treatment for endometriosis. STUDYDESIGN:
One hundred and one women aged 20-40 years participated and were randomised into two groups, each receiving two units of 10 acupuncture treatments, twice a week over a period of five weeks. Group 1 (n = 47) received verum-acupuncture during the first series, and group 2 (n = 54) received non-specific acupuncture. After the first unit of 10 treatments, an observation period of at least two menstruation cycles was set, followed by a second unit, according to a cross-over design. Prior to the study (during a two-week run-in period) the patients' actual pain intensity was surveyed. Throughout the study period, participants were asked to keep a 'pain protocol', in which they defined and recorded their pain according to the 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS).RESULTS:
Eighty-three out of a total of 101 patients finished the study. Group 1 showed a significant reduction of pain intensity after the first 10 treatments. In comparison, group 2 showed significant pain relief only after the cross-over.CONCLUSION:
Acupuncture treatment on specific acupuncture points appears to be an effective pain treatment for endometriosis, but this has to be confirmed in further study.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Acupuncture Therapy
/
Pelvic Pain
/
Endometriosis
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Guideline
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
Year:
2010
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Austria