Humaidan 2004.

Methods	Randomisation: computer‐generated Allocation concealment: sealed unlabelled envelopes Blinding of participants/investigators: no Blinding of assessors: no No. randomised: 200 No. analysed: 200 Intention‐to‐treat analysis: yes Power and sample calculations described Duration of trial: 9 months, from April to December 2002
Participants	Women in IVF programme undergoing transvaginal oocyte retrieval Mean age: 31 to 32 years (range 22 to 39) Cause of infertility: male, tubal disease, endometriosis, anovulation, unexplained Similar demographic and infertility characteristics at baseline
Interventions	Control: conscious sedation and analgesia (with IV alfentanil 0.25 mg) and paracervical block (lidocaine 10 mL (5 mg/mL)) (N = 100) Intervention: electro‐acupuncture (EA) plus paracervical block (PCB) (N = 100) Conscious sedation and analgesia group received premedication (oral benzodiazepine 10 mg); EA group did not
Outcomes	Primary: intraoperative and postoperative pain scores (VAS 0 to 100) Secondary: pregnancy rate Other outcomes reported: no. of cycles, no. of embryos transferred, implantation rate
Notes	Denmark Single centre Skiive Hospital Funding: not stated Definition of pregnancy not documented
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Computer‐generated
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Adequate: sealed unlabelled envelopes
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Blinding not possible owing to the nature of the interventions Blinding of assessors not reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No loss to follow‐up
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All prespecified outcomes reported
Other bias	Low risk	Comparable demographic and infertility characteristics at baseline