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Acupuncture for the Treatment of Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

  • Chronic Daily Headache (S-J Wang and S-P Chen, Section Editors)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Over the past few years, there have been many systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) used to assess the safety and efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine. Our aim is to assess the methodological and reporting quality of SRs/MAs and make an evaluation about the available evidence of the safety and efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine.

Recent Findings

Migraine is one of the most common primary headaches, with various symptoms, threatening human health. Acupuncture is a specific treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and a validated non-pharmaceutical option as well, widely used in the treatment of migraine, and has gained remarkable therapeutic effect. An overview can evaluate research methods and evidence for SRs/MAs in evidence-based medicine, although there is much relevant research, it’s still a hard work to synthesis all the evidence or to make robust conclusions, the variation in the methodological and quality evidence in such SRs/MAs play a significant role. For this overview, we searched six electronic databases from inception until 8 September 2022, and without languages restrictions, the results showed that, acupuncture as a more safety and more convenient therapeutic, and it has been shown to be effective in the treatment of migraine, that is worthy of clinical promotion. However, there are also some limitations because of the low-quality evidence of most of the studies.

Summary

In conclusion, most included SRs/MAs suggested that acupuncture was more effective than the control group in the treatment of migraine. However, the quality evidence of most of the studies still needs to be improved.

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Data Availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Author notes

  1. Wenhui Guo and Hai Cui contributed equally to the study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Bei**g, 100069, China

    Wenhui Guo, Hai Cui, Lu Zhang, Ruosang Du, Hongwen Yuan & Shumei Zheng

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  1. Wenhui Guo
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Contributions

SMZ is the leader and guarantor of this overview. WHG, HC, and RSD conceptualized the study and drafted the manuscript. LZ, HWY, and YJL set up and performed the search strategy. WHG and HC searched the database and extracted the relevant information from included studies independently and then get cross-check. All authors read and approved amendment on the draft and produced the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shumei Zheng.

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Guo, W., Cui, H., Zhang, L. et al. Acupuncture for the Treatment of Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. Curr Pain Headache Rep 27, 239–257 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-023-01120-7

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