title: Meta-analysis of acupuncture therapy for the treatment of stable angina pectoris.
abstract: Angina pectoris is a common symptom imperiling patients' life quality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for stable angina pectoris. Clinical randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the efficacy of acupuncture to conventional drugs in patients with stable angina pectoris were searched using the following database of PubMed, Medline, Wanfang and CNKI. Overall odds ratio (ORs) and weighted mean difference (MD) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by using fixed- or random-effect models depending on the heterogeneity of the included trials. Total 8 RCTs, including 640 angina pectoris cases with 372 patients received acupuncture therapy and 268 patients received conventional drugs, were included. Overall, our result showed that acupuncture significantly increased the clinical curative effects in the relief of angina symptoms (OR=2.89, 95% CI=1.87-4.47, P<0.00001) and improved the electrocardiography (OR=1.83, 95% CI=1.23-2.71, P=0.003), indicating that acupuncture therapy was superior to conventional drugs. Although there was no significant difference in overall effective rate relating reduction of nitroglycerin between two groups (OR=2.13, 95% CI=0.90-5.07, P=0.09), a significant reduction on nitroglycerin consumption in acupuncture group was found (MD=-0.44, 95% CI=-0.64, -0.24, P<0.0001). Furthermore, the time to onset of angina relief was longer for acupuncture therapy than for traditional medicines (MD=2.44, 95% CI=1.64-3.24, P<0.00001, min). No adverse effects associated with acupuncture therapy were found. Acupuncture may be an effective therapy for stable angina pectoris. More clinical trials are needed to systematically assess the role of acupuncture in angina pectoris.
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Wensheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Affiliated hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110032, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shenyang 110847, PR China.
authors.forename: Guanlin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Stable angina pectoris; acupuncture; meta-analysis