Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Review Article

The Role of Acupuncture in Assisted Reproductive Technology

Table 1

Characteristics of studies included in this paper.
Author Main objective Power calculationInterventionControl Acupuncture juncture CPR LBR Analysis
MAEALASham Acu. at acupointsSham Acu. at non- or inappropriate pointsNT or RXSham LAAdhesive tapes
(1) Paulus et al. [21]IVF outcomeNo√√A√ITT
(2) Paulus et al. [22]IVF outcomeNo√√A√ITT
(3) Smith et al. [23]IVF outcomeYes√√A√ITT
(4) Westergaard et al. [24]IVF outcomeYes√ (2)√A√TPP
(5) Dieterle et al. [25]IVF outcomeYes√√A√ITT
(6) Benson et al. [26]IVF outcomeNo√√√ (2)√A√ITT
(7) Craig et al. [27]IVF outcomeNo√√A√TPP
(8) Cui et al. [28]IVF outcomeNo√√C√ITT
(9) Fratterelli et al. [29]IVF outcomeUnclear√√√ (2)√A√√ITT
(10) Chen et al. [30]IVF outcomeNo√√C√ITT and TPP
(11) Domar et al. [31]IVF outcome,No√√A√ITT
(12) Ho et al. [32]IVF outcomeNo√√C√ITT
(13) So et al. [33]IVF outcomeYes√√A√√ITT
(14) So et al. [34]IVF outcomeYes√√A√√ITT
(15) Andersen et al. [35]IVF outcomeYes√√A√√ITT and TPP
(16) Madaschi et al. [36]IVF outcomeYes√√A√√ITT
(17) Arnoldi et al. [37]IVF outcomeUnclear√√C√ITT and TPP
(18) Moy et al. [38]IVF outcomeYes√√A√TPP
(19) Cui et al. [39]IVF outcomeNo√√C√TPP
(20) Stener-Victorin et al. [3]Pain reliefNo√√B√√TPP
(21) Stener-Victorin et al. [40]Pain reliefYes√√B√TPP
(22) Humaidan and Stener-Victorin [41]Pain reliefYes√√B√TPP
(23) Sator-Katzenschlager et al. [42]Pain reliefYes√√√B√TPP
Total19 IVF outcome, 4 Pain relief11 yes16(17)824315(17)2114A 4B 5C23615 ITT, 11 TPP
Note: MA: manual acupuncture; EA: electroacupuncture; LA: laser acupuncture; Acu.: acupuncture. NT: non intervention treatment; RX: relaxation. A: acupuncture was used around the time of embryo transfer (ET); B: acupuncture was used around the time of oocyte aspiration (OA); C: acupuncture was mainly performed during the course of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH); CPR: clinical pregnancy rate; LBR: live birth rate; Westergaard 2006 MA (2): two MA groups; Benson 2006, Fratterelli 2008 NT, or RX (2): two controlled groups. ITT: intention to treat analysis; TPP: treated-per-protocol analysis.