ManageMigrainewithAcupuncture:AReviewofAcupunctureProtocolsinRandomizedControlledTrialsHuiZheng,*MinChen,yXiWu,*YingLi*andFan-RongLiang**DepartmentofAcupunctureandMoxibustionyCollegeofClinicalMedicineChengduUniversityofTraditionalChineseMedicineChengdu610075,SichuanProvince,ChinaAbstract:Theaimofthisarticleistopresentastandardizedprotocolofacupunctureforthemanagementofmigraine.Asystematicreviewofavailablerandomizedcontrolledtrialsofacupunctureformigraineurswasconductedinthefivefollowingelectronicdatabases:CochraneCentralRegisterofControlledtrials,MEDLINE,EMBASE,PsycINFOandCINAHL.Informationofselectedacupointsandtreatmentcoursewasextractedfromtheincludedtrials.Thenweanalyzedthetreatmentmethodsusedinthesetrials,toidentifyanysimilaritiesoftherapeuticapproaches.Additionally,qualityofalltheincludedtrialswasassessed.Atlast,theextractedinformationofacupunctureprotocolswasanalyzed,andthesimilaritiesoftherapeuticapproachesweresummedup.Bilateraluseofthefollowingpointsisrecommended:Fengchi(GB20),Taiyang(EX-HN5),etc.De-qisensationisrequestedinacupuncturemanipulatingprocedure,andmanualstimulationissuggested.Theoptimaltreatmentfrequencyistwiceaweekwithoneweekrestbetweenthefirst10andthelast10sessions.Additionally,thedurationofonetreatmentsessionoughttobe30minutes,whileitisrecommendedtouseabout20needlesinonesession.Thetotaldurationofanacupuncturetreatmentshouldbeatleast10weeks.Theprotocolanalyzedfromtrialswithpositiveresultsisdifferentfromtrialswithnegativeinnumberoftreatmentsessions.Thereforeinfuturetrials,enoughacupuncturetreatmentsessionsshouldbefullyconsidered.Keywords:PracticeRecommendations;Acupuncture;Migraine.Correspondenceto:Dr.Fan-RongLiang,DepartmentofAcupunctureandMoxibustion,ChengduUniversityofTraditionalChineseMedicine,Chengdu,China610072.Tel:(þ86)28-6670-4320,Fax:(þ86)288778-4606,E-mail:acuresearch@126.comTheAmericanJournalofChineseMedicine,Vol.38,No.4,639–650©2010WorldScientificPublishingCompanyInstituteforAdvancedResearchinAsianScienceandMedicineDOI:10.1142/S0192415X10008111639IntroductionMigraineisacommonheadachedisorder(TheInternationalClassificationofHeadacheDisorders,2004).Itisapulsatingheadachethatisoftenunilateralandassociatedwithnausea,vomiting,sensitivitytolight,sound,smells,etc.ItisnowrankedbytheWorldHealthOrganizationasnumber19amongalldiseasesworld-widecausingdisability(TheInternationalClassificationofHeadacheDisorders,2004).Theprevalenceofmigrainewas18.2%amongfemalesand6.5%amongmalesinAmerica(Liptonetal.,2001).InEngland,itwas18.3%amongfemalesand7.6%amongmales(Steiner,2003).IntheAustrianadultpopulation,10.2%ofthemwereidentifiedtosufferfrommigraine(Lampl,2003).Etiologicalcauseandpathogenesisofmigrainearestillnotclear.Sex,age,workingstatusandregionwerefoundtobethemaindemographicinfluencingfactors(Lampl,2003).Triptanshavebeenproventobeefficaciousinthemanagementofmigraine.However,triptandidnotexhibitbettertolerabilitythanplacebobecauseofadverseevents(Pascualetal.,2007).AcupuncturehasbeenusedtotreatheadacheinChinaforthousandsofyears(CabiogluandCetin,2008;Wangetal.,2008).Itwasreportedtobeeffectiveandsafetotreatmigraine(Melchartetal.,2001).Treatmentwithacupunctureforsixweekswasequaltoaprophy-lacticdrugtreatmentforsixmonths(Endresetal.,2007).ACochranesystematicreviewconcludedthatacupunctureisatleastaseffectiveasprophylacticdrugtreatmentandhasfeweradverseeventsand...
