title: Immediate analgesia effect of single point acupuncture in primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acupuncture is often used for primary dysmenorrhea.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the efficacy of a single point of acupuncture in the management of primary dysmenorrhea compared with sham acupuncture and no acupuncture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with primary dysmenorrhea were randomly assigned to acupoint group (n=50), unrelated acupoint group (n=50), nonacupoint group (n=46), or no acupuncture group (n=48). Acupuncture and sham acupuncture were administered once-daily for 3 days with electro-acupuncture at Sanyinjiao (SP6) that was specifically designed to treat primary dysmenorrhea, or an unrelated acupoint (Xuanzhong, GB39), or nonacupoint location. The primary outcome was pain intensity as measured by a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) at baseline; 5, 10, 30, and 60 minutes following the start of the first intervention. Cox retrospective symptom scale (RSS), verbal rating scale (VRS), pain total time, and proportion of participants using analgesics were also recorded during three menstrual cycles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The primary comparison of VAS scores demonstrated that patients receiving acupuncture (-15.56 mm, 95% CI -22.16 to -8.95, P<0.001), unrelated acupoint (-18.14 mm, 95% CI -24.81 to -11.47, P<0.001), and nonacupoint (-10.96 mm, 95% CI -17.62 to -4.30, P=0.001) treatment presented significant improvements compared with no acupuncture group. There were no significant differences among the four groups with respect to secondary outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupuncture was better than no acupuncture for relieving the pain of dysmenorrhea following a single point of acupuncture, but no differences were detected between acupoint acupuncture and unrelated acupoint acupuncture, acupoint acupuncture and nonacupoint acupuncture.
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China. lcz623780@126.com
authors.forename: Cun-Zhi
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jie-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Lin-Peng
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yuan-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Zeng-Bin
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guang-Xia
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Shi-Liang
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ji-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jing-Xian
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jing-Dao
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yan-Xia
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xiao-Ou
authors.initials: XO
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ai-ping
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jian-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Hui-Juan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia / Q000379:methods*; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000698:Analgesia / Q000379:methods*; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000628:therapy*; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult