Effect of an Acupuncture Technique of Penetrating through Zhibian (BL54) to Shuidao (ST28) with Long Needle for Pain Relief in Patients with Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Table 2

Change in clinical outcomes in both groups after treatment.

Group	Acupuncture (n = 31)	Ibuprofen (n = 31)	value
VAS score	3.26 ± 1.49	5.71 ± 1.32	<0.0001
Symptom severity	3.32 ± 0.91	8.27 ± 3.08	<0.0001
Response rate^ (%)	100	87.1	<0.05
Adverse events (n)	7	17	—

^Note: response rate = (the number of subjects with at least 25% pain intensity reduction in one group)/(the total number of subjects in one group)  100%.