2. Acupuncture adequacy assessments of included studies.

Study	Choice of acupuncture points	Total number of sessions	Treatment duration	Treatment frequency	Needling technique	Experience	Assessment of number of sessions/dose (for the active treatments used in control group)	Guess of studyf
Li 2006a	Adequatea	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Don't know
Pang 2009	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Inadequateb	Don't know
Qi 2013	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequatec	Adequate	Don't know
Xu 2004	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Unclear	Adequate	Don't know
Yang 2014	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequated	Adequate	Don't know
Zhang 1991	Adequatee	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Adequate	Don't know

^aAlthough the two points (DU 12 and DU 13) were not commonly used points for treating eye disorders, they might be effective to treat acute hordeolum due to their action of clearing heat.
^bApplication of topical antibiotic for only one day was not enough to treat acute hordeolum.
^cThe acupuncture treatment was administered by an ophthalmic technician with more than five years of professional experience and experience in bloodletting at ear apex for hordeolum.
^dThe acupuncture treatment was administered by a nurse with eight years of experience bloodletting at ear apex for hordeolum.
^eAlthough LI 14 was not commonly used, the literature showed that LI 14 has specific effect on eye disorders and was used by some experienced acupuncturists (Bai 2011; Liu 2001).
^fAssessors of acupuncture adequacy were masked to the study identity and were asked to guess the study identity. Their response was "don't know."