The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for the Treatment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Table 3

Adverse events in included studies.

Study (reference)	Sample size; (E/C)	Adverse events
J. G. Sun and X. R. Sun 2014; [35]	42/42	None
Wong 2008; [40]	18/18	E: 1 (worsening of sleep pattern; sleeping late at night), 1 (worsening of hyperactivity and ritualistic behavior); Parents thought that the negative changes were minor and did not affect the participant’s functioning
Wong and Chen 2010; [41]	30/25	E: minor superficial bleeding or crying, and irritability during acupuncture was experienced by some
Wong and Sun 2010; [42]	25/25	None. Initial crying in fear and possible minor pain occurred in the first few sessions, but patients adapted easily and tolerated the procedure well
Wong et al. 2014; [43]	12/9	None. Initial crying in fear and possible minor pain occurred in first few sessions, but patients adapted easily and tolerated the procedure well
Zhao et al. 2015; [49]	30/30	None

C, control group; E, experimental group.