Acupuncture may improve assisted reproduction outcomes when timed during ovarian stimulation or before frozen embryo transfer, particularly at higher treatment doses.
This systematic review and meta-analysis searched eight databases from their inception through January 2023 for randomized controlled trials comparing acupuncture with sham acupuncture or no additional treatment among women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. The authors grouped studies by fresh or frozen treatment cycles, acupuncture timing, and treatment dose, then conducted subgroup analyses to examine differences in pregnancy outcomes.
For fresh treatment cycles, acupuncture during controlled ovarian stimulation was associated with improved clinical pregnancy, whereas treatment before stimulation or on embryo-transfer day showed no clear benefit. For frozen cycles, acupuncture before frozen embryo transfer was associated with improved clinical pregnancy and live birth. Clinical pregnancy improved across treatment-dose categories, but higher-dose acupuncture was the only category associated with improved live birth.
