Is acupuncture in addition to conventional medicine effective as pain treatment for endometriosis? A randomised controlled cross-over trial

Rubi-Klein K, Katharina Rubi-Klein, Elisabeth Kucera-Sliutz, Kucera-Sliutz E, Helmut Nissel, Nissel H, Bijak M, Michaela Bijak, Daniela Stockenhuber, Stockenhuber D, Fink M, Matthias Fink, Evemarie Wolkenstein, Wolkenstein E, E. Wolkenstein
European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology · 2010 · vol. 153(1) , pp. 90–93 · doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2010.06.023 · PMID:20728977 · W2029373860
RCT OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 48 in-corpus citations
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This paper investigated whether acupuncture, when added to conventional medical treatment, effectively reduced pain for women with endometriosis.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine whether acupuncture is an effective additional pain treatment for endometriosis. STUDY DESIGN: 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.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Acupuncture Therapy Acupuncture Therapy Endometriosis Pelvic Pain Adult Adult Cross-Over Studies Cross-Over Studies Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Female Humans Humans Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Young Adult Young Adult

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Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

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