Acupuncture little better than placebo, say researchers

Published on Tuesday 27 January 2009 20:59

THE pain-relieving effects of acupuncture compared with a placebo are so small they may be clinically irrelevant, according to research released today.

Researchers analysed evidence from 13 acupuncture pain trials involving over 3,000 patients with a broad range of common conditions such as knee osteoarthritis, migraine, lower back pain and post-operative pain.

They found only a small analgesic effect of real acupuncture compared to placebo acupuncture.

This corresponded to a reduction in pain levels of about "4mm" on a "100mm" pain scoring scale. A 10mm reduction on this scale is classed as "minimal" or "little change" so the apparent analgesic effect of acupuncture seemed to be below a "clinically relevant" level of improvement, the researchers said.

They found a moderate difference between placebo acupuncture and no acupuncture (10mm on a 100mm scale). But the effect of placebo acupuncture varied considerably.

The researchers, who are based at the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen, said their findings corresponded with several Cochrane reviews on acupuncture for various types of pain.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, a senior researcher, Asbjorn Hrobjartsson, said: "Our findings question both the traditional foundation of acupuncture and the prevailing theory that acupuncture has an important effect on pain in general."

The British Medical Acupuncture Society admitted that the overall effect of acupuncture compared to more conventional care was not large.

But they stressed that it was clinically relevant for conditions relating to the muscles and bones.