The efficacy of acupuncture for some pediatric conditions is promising, such as for cerebral palsy, nocturnal enuresis, tic disorders, amblyopia, and pain reduction.
This overview identified 24 systematic reviews, providing us with a comprehensive picture of acupuncture for pediatric conditions. Although most of the included studies could not draw firm conclusions because of the small size of the included trials or their low methodological quality, the efficacy of acupuncture for some pediatric conditions is promising, such as for cerebral palsy, nocturnal enuresis, tic disorders, amblyopia, and pain reduction.
However, the efficacy of acupuncture for hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mumps, and myopia is unclear and the efficacy for ASD, asthma, and nausea/vomiting is controversial. Current evidence does not support the use of acupuncture for pediatric epilepsy. In this overview, we found that acupuncture was well tolerated and no fatal side effects were reported.
