The durable effect of acupuncture for episodic migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Systematic Review

Lili Zhu¹  Zhishun Liu¹  Jiufei Fang¹  Shuai Gao¹  Hangyu Shi²  Runyu Miao³ 

[1] Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China;Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China;Graduate College, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China;Graduate College, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China;Institute of Metabolic Diseases, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China;

关键词: acupuncture;    migraine;    durable effect;    systematic review;    RCTs;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2023.1211438

 received in 2023-04-24, accepted in 2023-08-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMigraine is a common and recurrent type of headache. Avoiding trigger factors is not often successful in reducing headache frequency, duration, and severity. Prophylactic medications may be effective but are limited by strict indications and daily medication intake. This review aimed to investigate the durable effect of acupuncture on episodic migraine.MethodsSeven databases including Medline, Embase, PubMed, etc., were searched for English and Chinese literature from their inception to 23 November 2022. Two independent reviewers screened the retrieved studies and extracted the data. Primary outcomes were monthly migraine days, monthly migraine attacks, and VAS score at 3 months post-treatment. The risk of bias in included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. Meta-analysis was conducted where applicable.ResultsFifteen studies were included in this review. Acupuncture reduced the number of migraine attacks (MD -0.68; 95% CI –0.93, −0.43; p < 0.001), the number of days with migraine (MD –0.86; 95% CI –1.18, −0.55; p < 0.001), and VAS score (MD –1.01; 95% CI –1.30, −0.72; p < 0.001) to a greater degree than sham acupuncture at 3 months after treatment. Significant differences in reducing pain intensity of migraine in favor of acupuncture compared with waitlist (MD –1.84; 95% CI –2.31, −1.37; p < 0.001) or flunarizine (MD –2.00; 95% CI –2.35, −1.65; p < 0.001) at 3 months after treatment were found, and the differences reached the minimal clinically important difference (MCID).ConclusionThis review found that the durable effect of acupuncture for episodic migraine lasted at least 3 months after treatment. More high-quality studies with longer follow-up periods in the future are needed to confirm the findings.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Shi, Miao, Gao, Zhu, Fang and Liu.