Acupuncture for ankle sprain: systematic review and meta-analysis

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Hi-Joon Park¹  Hyangsook Lee¹  Jimin Park²  Ji-Yeun Park³  Seokyung Hahn⁴ 

[1] Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Kyung Hee Dae-ro 26, 130-701, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Korean Medical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea;Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea;

关键词: Acupuncture;    Ankle sprain;    Systematic review;    Randomized controlled trial;    Meta-analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-13-55

 received in 2012-09-07, accepted in 2013-02-26,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAnkle sprain is one of the most frequently encountered musculoskeletal injuries; however, the efficacy of acupuncture in treating ankle sprains remains uncertain. We therefore performed a systematic review to evaluate the evidence regarding acupuncture for ankle sprains.MethodsWe searched 15 data sources and two trial registries up to February 2012. Randomized controlled trials of acupuncture were included if they involved patients with ankle sprains and reported outcomes of symptom improvement, including pain. A Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used. Risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) was calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in a random effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed based on acupuncture type, grade of sprain, and control type. Sensitivity analyses were also performed with respect to risk of bias, sample size, and outcomes reported.ResultsSeventeen trials involving 1820 participants were included. Trial quality was generally poor, with just three reporting adequate methods of randomization and only one a method of allocation concealment. Significantly more participants in acupuncture groups reported global symptom improvement compared with no acupuncture groups (RR of symptoms persisting with acupuncture = 0.56, 95% CI 0.42–0.77). However, this is probably an overestimate due to the heterogeneity (I2 = 51%) and high risk of bias of the included studies. Acupuncture as an add-on treatment also improved global symptoms compared with other treatments only, without significant variability (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.51–0.73, I2 = 1%). The benefit of acupuncture remained significant when the analysis was limited to two studies with a low risk of bias. Acupuncture was more effective than various controls in relieving pain, facilitating return to normal activity, and promoting quality of life, but these analyses were based on only a small number of studies. Acupuncture did not appear to be associated with adverse events.ConclusionsGiven methodological shortcomings and the small number of high-quality primary studies, the available evidence is insufficient to recommend acupuncture as an evidence-based treatment option. This calls for further rigorous investigations.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Park et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.