Does acupuncture relieve pain?

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2760

Published 27 January 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2760
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:a2760

Editorials

Does acupuncture relieve pain?

Interpreting the effects of sham acupuncture holds the answer

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the linked systematic review (doi:10.1136/bmj.a3115), Madsenand colleagues assess the analgesic effect of acupuncture and"placebo acupuncture" compared with usual care in 13 three armstudies.¹ Acupuncture has been used virtually unchanged forabout 2000 years, although in contemporary practice needlesare often stimulated electrically (electroacupuncture). Traditionalconcepts of the mode of action have not been scientificallysubstantiated. Acupuncture is currently explained by neurophysiologicalmechanisms that are well established in research into experimentalpain,² although the precise mechanisms of effects seen in clinicalpractice are more elusive.

The clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of acupunctureversus conventional treatment for chronic pain have been confirmedin large trials over the past 10 years. In particular, Germany’sModellvorhaben Akupunktur (health insurance funded trials onacupuncture) provide evidence of effectiveness that has ledto the integration of acupuncture into the management of osteoarthritisof the knee³ and back pain.⁴ In . . . [Full text of this article]

Adrian White, clinical research fellow¹, Mike Cummings, medical director²

¹ Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Plymouth PL6 8BU, ² British Medical Acupuncture Society, Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital, London WC1N

adrian.white@pms.ac.uk

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