A Systematic Review of Experimental and Clinical Acupuncture in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

Table 1

Characteristics of the studies involving the use of acupuncture in CIPN.

Authors	Patients (𝑛)	Design of the study	Intervention and control	Duration of intervention	Outcome(s)	Results
Alimi et al., 2003 [23]	90	Prospective randomized controlled trial	Auricular acupuncture versus placebo acupuncture and seeds	2 months	VAS pain score and medication consumption	True acupuncture better than placebo
Wong and Sagar, 2006 [24]	5	Prospective case series	Acupuncture (no control)	16 weeks; (Two 6-week courses with a 4-week therapy free interval)	Pain score and WHO CIPN grade	Improvement
Xu et al., 2010 [25]	64	Controlled randomized trial	Acupuncture versus cobamamide	Not known	Questionnaire of peripheral neuropathy	Acupuncture better that cobamamide
Bao et al., 2011 [26]	1	Case report	Acupuncture (no control)	22 weeks	VAS pain score	No more symptoms
Donald et al., 2011 [27]	18	Retrospective case series	Acupuncture (no control)	6 weeks	Subjective symptoms	82% improved
Schroeder et al., 2012 [28]	11	Retrospective controlled nonrandomized trial	Acupuncture and best medical care versus best medical care	10 weeks	Nerve conduction studies	Acupuncture better than control
Tian et al., 2011 [29]	76	Controlled randomized trial	Warm acupuncture and moxibustion versus Neurotropin	Not known	Quality of life and neurotoxic symptoms	Acupuncture better than Neurotropin

Legend: VAS: visual analog scale; FACT-G: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General.