Review Article
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 () | 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 |
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Legend: VAS: visual analog scale; FACT-G: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General.
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