Clinical effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced leukopenia: A systematic review
Lee JH, Jang E, Jung MH, Ha KT, Han C · European Journal of Integrative Medicine · 2016 October
DOI 10.1016/j.eujim.2016.08.165
Objective
To determine the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture in treating chemotherapy-induced leukopenia through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using various acupuncture types.
Conclusions
Conventional manual acupuncture (CA) and fire needle acupuncture (FA) were found to significantly reduce the rate of leukopenia in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, the methodological quality of the included studies was deemed insufficient, with unclear or high risk of bias in at least two of six domains. The results suggest potential benefits, but more well-planned studies are needed due to the limited number and methodological flaws of the analyzed trials.
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