Table 1.
Characteristics of included trials of moxibustion, acupuncture and other acupoint stimulation for breech presentation
| Study ID | Design | Sample size |
Age (year) (Rx/control) |
Gestation age (week) (Rx/control) |
Intervention | Control | Outcomes |
| Cardini 2005 [14] | RCT | 123 | 31 | 33 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | no treatment | cephalic presentation |
| Cardini 1998 [6] | RCT | 260 | 25.5/25.2 | 33/33 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | no treatment | number of cephalic presentation, foetal activity; number and causes of caesarean deliveries, spontaneous and induced vaginal deliveries, Apgar score, adverse events |
| Huang 1990 [20] | RCT | 587 | NA | 28–32 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | no treatment or knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Yang 2006 [13] | RCT | 206 | 23.1–30.3 | 28–34 | moxibustion on Zhiyin plus knee-chest position | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation, adverse events |
| Lin 2002 [18] | RCT | 122 | 21–38 | 30–37 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Peng 2006 [12] | RCT | 80 | 21–36 | 30–34 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Chen 2004 [16] | RCT | 142 | 22–38/22–39 | 30–34/30–34 | moxibustion on Zhiyin plus raising buttocks method | raising buttocks method | cephalic presentation |
| Habek 2003 [17] | RCT | 67 | 22 ± 3.1/23 ± 1.3 | 34–37 | acupuncture on Zhiyin | no treatment | cephalic presentation |
| Neri 2004 [15] | RCT | 240 | 31.7+4.7/30.1+3.6 | 33.5+0.6/33.7+0.7 | acupuncture plus moxibustion on Zhiyin | no treatment | cephalic presentation, adverse events |
| Ye 1998 [19] | RCT | 263 | 28.35 | 28–36/28–33 | laser stimulation on Zhiyin | knee-chest position plus pelvis rotating | cephalic presentation |
| Liang 2004 [21] | CCT | 320 | NA | 28 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Xiong 1991 [26] | CCT | 60 | 20–28/20–28 | 32–36/32–36 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Wu 1995 [23] | CCT | 820 | 20–37 | 20–37 | moxibustion on Zhiyin plus raising buttocks method or laser stimulation on Zhiyin | raising buttocks method or knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Jiang 1993 [25] | CCT | 382 | 20–38 | 30–40 | laser stimulation on Zhiyin | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Qin 1989 [27] | CCT | 150 | NA | 30–37 | ear acupuncture | knee-chest position | cephalic presentation |
| Kanakura 2001 [22] | CCT | 548 | 28.4 | 28 (minimal) | moxibustion or electro-acupuncture | no treatment | cephalic presentation |
| Cardini 1993 [24] | CCT | 41 | 20–37 | 22–31 | moxibustion on Zhiyin | no treatment | cephalic presentation |