| | Authors and year | Subjects and sample size | Investigated acupuncture points and their body regions/meridians | Parameters used in comparison and related factors | Results, suggestions, and conclusions |
| | Li 2011 [8] | 10 male,
10 female | BL18 | Gender, angle, side, BL, BW, BMI, and thumb cun | (1) Male subjects had greater safe depth (mean 25.1 mm versus 22.52 mm)
(2) Right side points had greater depths
(3) The perpendicular depths of right side points correlated with BW, thumb cun; depths of left side points correlated with BL, BW, BMI, and thumb cun |
| | Fu 2011 [9] | 10 male,
10 female | BL20 | Gender, angle, side, BL, BW, and BMI | (1) No side differences
(2) With gender differences except when needling angle is 45 degrees
(3) The safe depth did not correlate with BL, BW, and BMI |
| | Chuan 2011 [10] | 10 male,
10 female | BL19 | Gender, angle, BL, BW, and BMI | (1) The male subject had greater safe depth of perpendicular needling
(2) If needled with the angles of 30 and 45 degrees, no gender difference noted
(3) The depth may vary profoundly under different angles, for example, 2.02 to 4.0 cm |
| | Yen 2011 [11] | 10 male,
10 female | BL17 | Gender, angle, side, BL, BW, and BMI | (1) No obvious side difference
(2) The various needling angles and safe depth did not correlate with BMI
(3) Mean depth of perpendicular depth in male is 4.11 cm and 3.16 cm in females |
| |
Han 2010 [12] and Wen et al. 2011 [13] | 10 male,
10 female | SP21 | Gender, angle, BL, BW, BMI, body cun | (1) The safe needling angle should be about 15 degrees towards the skin surface
(2) Difference in safe depth existed in various needling angles
(3) The safe depth did not correlate with BL, BW, BMI, thumb cun, and body cun |
| | Yu 2010 [14] | 10 male,
10 female | CV14, ST19 | Gender, angle, BL, BW, BMI, and body cun | (1) No gender differences in both points
(2) the safe depth of CV14 did not correlate with BL, BW, BMI, or body cun
(3) the safe depth of ST19 correlated with BW, BMI |
| | Ho 2010 [15] | 10 male,
10 female | ST18, GB24 | Gender, angle, side, and BMI | (1) No side difference for ST18
(2) Female subjects had greater depths generally for ST18
(3) Safe depths for ST18 and GB24 correlated significantly with BMI |
| | Wu 2010 [16] | 10 male,
10 female | LR14 | Gender, angle, side, and BMI | (1) Perpendicular needling depth was greater in female subjects
(2) No gender difference
(3) Dangerous depth of LR14 correlated with BMI significantly |
| |
Dong 2010 [17] and Cheng and Dong 2012 [18] | 10 male,
10 female | CV15, CV13 | Gender, angle, BL, BW, BMI, and body cun | (1) The safe depth for CV15 ranged from 16.99 to 53.47 mm with no gender difference
(2) The safe depth for CV13 ranged from 17.25 to 62.74 mm with no gender difference
(3) The safe depth of both points did not correlate with BL, BW, and body cun |
| | Wang 2009 [19] | 11 male,
9 female | BL10 | Gender, side, angle, BL, BW, neck girth, and thumb cun | (1) No side and angle differences noted in both groups
(2) Male subjects had greater depth
(3) The safe depth did not correlate with any of the parameters |
| | Chang 2009 [20] | 11 male,
9 female | GB20 | Gender, angle, BL, BW, BMI, neck girth, and head girth | (1) The needling direction towards the nose tip would be the safest way
(2) Mean safe depth in males ranged from 35.25 to 42.75 mm while 29.92 to 36.19 in females
(3) Safe depth correlated with neck, head girth, BW, and BMI, but needling angle did not |
| | Bai 2009 [21] | 11 male,
9 female | GV16 | Gender, angle, BL, BW, BMI, neck girth, and thumb cun | (1) Male subjects had greater depth with various needling angles
(2) Needling depth correlated positively with BW, BMI, and neck girth
(3) Safe depth ranged 27.08–45.55 mm |
| | Wu 2009 [22] | 11 male,
9 female | BL1, ST1 | Gender | (1) The safe depth was defined as the 75% of dangerous depth
(2) Perpendicular needling depth for BL1 was 4.14 mm (19.87 mm if along the axis of eyeball) and 17.85 for ST1
(3) With gender differences |
| |
Lu 2009 [23] | 11 male,
9 female | GV15 | Gender, angle, side, BL, BW, BMI, neck girth, and thumb cun | (1) Perpendicular needling depth was greater in males
(2) Oblique needling depth was greater in females at an angle of around 15 degrees
(3) Depth in male subjects correlated with BL, BW, and neck girth while depth in female group correlated with none of those parameters |
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