Insights & Discussion
The majority of trials demonstrate a positive effect of acupuncture over control condition in the treatment of neuropathy.
The majority of RCTs reviewed showed clear benefit for acupuncture over control in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, Bell’s palsy and carpal tunnel syndrome. Acupuncture is probably effective in the treatment of HIV-related neuropathy and there is insufficient evidence for its benefits in idiopathic neuropathy. Meta-analyses of all diabetic neuropathy and bell’s palsy data using a summary estimate random effects model showed combined Odds Ratio (OR) of 4.23, p<0.001 favoring acupuncture over control for pain outcomes. The majority of trials demonstrate a positive effect of acupuncture over control condition in the treatment of neuropathy. Further more rigorously designed studies are needed to better characterize this effect.
Discover Related Insights
Acupuncture, regardless of the trial design, showed a positive effect on pain-related outcome measures for participants with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
2019 Acupuncture in Medicine Acupuncture for the treatment of lower limb diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review Nash J, Armour M, Penkala S
Systematic Review Peripheral Neuropathy
Acupuncture, regardless of the trial design, showed a positive effect on pain-related outcome measures for participants with DPN. However, a meta-analysis could not be performed owing to the highly heterogeneous outcome measures and limited number of high-quality RCTs available. Findings from this review showed that acupuncture improves symptoms despite the variations in acupuncture dosage, and provides beneficial effects in comparison with vitamin B therapies and no treatment. However, owing to problems with control group suitability and blinding, strong non-specific effects cannot be ruled out.