Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society
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Review Meta Analysis
Verum versus sham manual acupuncture for migraine: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.
Manual acupuncture (MA) is commonly used as a treatment for migraine in China. However, its specific clinical effects have been challenged on the basis that some of its effects may relate to psychological or 'placebo' mechanisms. ⋯ Current clinical evidence suggests that verum acupuncture is superior to sham acupuncture in migraine, reflected by a higher total effective rate and decreased recurrence rate. Nevertheless, further large-scale RCTs with a rigorous design are required to confirm these findings in view of the relative paucity of eligible RCTs and small sample sizes of those included.