Table 5.

Methods & Results of Included Observational Ear Acupuncture Studies on Pain Management in the Emergency Setting

First author, year, ref. & setting	Condition (sample size)	Intervention	Acupuncturist practitioner qualification	Method/acupuncture points	Length of time needles retained	Mean age years with ± SD (% female)	Adverse events from acupuncture	Mean pain score out of 10 pre–post with SD or P-value (change)	Secondary outcomes
Burns, 2013,30 retrieval, Germany/US	Varied pain types (75)	AdjEA SAC	Nonacupuncturists: Nurse–practitioners (2) Physician (1) trained in BFA	Up to 10 Ear: Cingulate, Thalamus, Omega 2, Point Zero & Shenmen (bilateral)	Not specified	55.4% ages 21–30 (14.9%)	Not specified	4.07–2.17 (1.89) P < 0.0001	Satisfaction: 62% would have treatment again; 50% mostly satisfied; 21% very satisfied
Graff, 2016,34 ED	Migraine (19)	Acupuncture	Physician	Up to 6 (3 in each ear): Thalamus & migraine line (bilateral)	2 weeks or till needles fell out	14 ± 2.9 yrs (89%)	0	7.63 ± 1.2–0.55 ± 0.4 (7.08 ± 1.0)	Nil

SD, standard deviation; AdjEA, ear acupuncture-as-an-adjunct to other analgesia; SAC, standard analgesia care; BFA, Battlefield Acupuncture; ED, emergency department; yrs, years.