Table 1.

Cochrane reviews assessing effectiveness of acupuncture therapy for pain

Citation	Condition(s)	Author conclusions*
Choi 2018 68	Carpal tunnel syndrome	It is uncertain whether acupuncture is helpful for pain or overall symptom improvement in this condition.
Kwan 2018 43	Pain during oocyte retrieval	It is uncertain whether adding different types of acupuncture to other forms of analgesia is associated with greater or lesser pain.
Franco 2018 69	Chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain	There is probably a clinically relevant reduction in prostatitis symptoms for acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture. Compared to standard medical therapy, acupuncture may lead to greater relief in prostatitis symptoms.
Manheimer 201839	Hip osteoarthritis	There is probably little or no difference in pain between acupuncture and sham acupuncture. Acupuncture may improve pain when added to routine care. It is uncertain whether acupuncture improves pain when added to patient education or is better for pain than NSAIDs or advice plus exercise.
Ju 201770	Neuropathic pain	It is uncertain whether acupuncture is better for pain than sham acupuncture or active treatments (comparator inositol). It is also uncertain whether acupuncture improves pain when added to active treatments.
Kim 2016 71	Chronic kidney disease	None of the included studies reported on pain.
Linde 2016a 72	Tension headache (prevention)	Acupuncture probably reduces headache frequency compared to usual care and reduces headache days slightly when compared to sham. It is uncertain whether acupuncture is more effective than other interventions.
Linde 2016b 62	Migraine (prevention)	Acupuncture probably reduces headache frequency compared to usual care or to sham. Acupuncture is probably as effective as treatment with prophylactic drugs in the short term.
Mangesi 2016 73	Breast engorgement during lactation	It is uncertain whether acupuncture or acupressure are better for pain than usual care (oxytocin spray or hot and cold compresses).
Smith 2016 74	Dysmenorrhea	Findings for acupuncture compared to sham or placebo were inconsistent. Acupuncture may be better than no treatment or an active treatment such as an NSAID. Acupressure may be better than sham, but it is uncertain whether it is better than no treatment or NSAIDs.
Liddle 2015 34	Low back and pelvic pain during pregnancy	There may be little or no difference in pelvic pain with acupuncture plus usual prenatal care compared to sham or placebo acupuncture plus usual prenatal care. Acupuncture plus usual care is probably more effective than stabilizing exercises plus usual care or usual prenatal care alone, and acupuncture may be better than physiotherapy. For mixed populations of low back and pelvic pain, acupuncture plus usual prenatal care may be more effective than sham or placebo acupuncture plus usual prenatal care, and acupuncture plus usual care may be better than individual physiotherapy plus usual prenatal care.
Paley 201542	Cancer-related pain	Acupuncture may be more effective for pain relief in cancer than either sham treatment or medications.
Boldt 2014 75	Chronic pain from spinal cord injury	It is uncertain whether acupuncture is better than either sham acupuncture or Trager treatment.
Deare 2013 40	Fibromyalgia	There is probably no difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture at up to one month after treatment, however acupuncture may be better than no acupuncture or amitriptyline. Acupuncture plus standard therapy (tricyclic antidepressants and exercise) is probably better than standard therapy alone.
Smith 2011 76	Pain during labor	There may be no difference in pain between treatment with acupuncture and sham acupuncture, however true acupuncture may have resulted in greater patient satisfaction with pain relief. There may be no difference in either pain or patient satisfaction with pain relief between acupuncture and standard care. Acupuncture may be more effective for pain than no treatment.
Zhu 2011 77	Endometriosis	Because of limited good-quality evidence, it is uncertain whether acupuncture is better than Chinese herbal medicine for pain.
Manheimer 2010 78	Peripheral joint osteoarthritis (knee, hip or hand)	Acupuncture may be slightly better than sham acupuncture for pain. Acupuncture is probably more effective than no acupuncture (waiting list) or an education intervention. There may be no difference in pain between acupuncture and exercise interventions, or between acupuncture added to exercise compared to exercise alone.**
Verhagen 2007 79	Whiplash injuries	Based on one small study there may be no difference between acupuncture and sham or placebo treatment.
Casimiro 2005 41	Rheumatoid arthritis	It is uncertain whether acupuncture is better than sham or placebo acupuncture.
Furlan 2005 35	Low back pain	For acute low back pain, there is probably no difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture or acupuncture and Naproxen. There is no evidence on acupuncture versus no treatment. For chronic low back pain, acupuncture may be better than sham acupuncture at short term, but it is uncertain whether acupuncture is better than sham acupuncture at intermediate term, and acupuncture is probably no better than sham acupuncture at long term. Acupuncture may not be more effective than other active treatments, but it may be slightly more effective for pain when added to other treatments than those other treatments alone.
Green 2005 37	Shoulder pain	It is uncertain whether acupuncture is better than sham acupuncture, corticosteroid injection, ultrasound, or Trager treatment for pain. Acupuncture may be less effective than stellate ganglion block and suprascapular nerve block. Acupuncture plus mobilization may not be better than mobilization alone but acupuncture plus exercise may be better than exercise alone in improving a composite measure of pain, range of motion and functioning.
Green 2002 36	Lateral elbow pain (tennis elbow)	Acupuncture may be better than sham or placebo acupuncture at short term but there may be no difference at 3 months or longer. There may be no difference between acupuncture plus Vitamin B12 injection and Vitamin B12 injection alone.

^*Author conclusions expressing high or moderate certainty are in bolded text.

^**These findings are for peripheral joint osteoarthritis overall. Note that findings for hip osteoarthritis have been updated in Manheimer 2018.