Table 5.

Acupuncture for dysmenorrhea.

Treatment; sample number (n)	Control; sample number (n)	Total clinical effect rate	Model used	Therapeutic effects and actions	Refs.
Acupuncture; n = 25	Mifepristone; n = 25	T: 92.0% vs. 52.0%	Human study	Pain score↓, CA-125↓, recurrence rate↓	[74]
Moxibustion; n = 27	Ibuprofen; n = 27		Human study	VAS score↓, the days of dysmenorrhea↓	[77]
Acupoint catgut implantation therapy; n = 36	Acupuncture; n = 36	T: 96.97% vs. 90.63%	Human study	PGF2α↓, VAS score↓	[86]
Electroacupuncture; n = 36	Mifepristone; n = 36	T: 94.4% vs. 91.7%	Human study	Pain score↓, CA-125↓, recurrence rate↓	[90]
Auricular acupuncture; n = 37	Herbal decoction; n = 30	T: 91.9% vs. 60.0%	Human study	β-EP↑, dysmenorrhea score↓	[96]

Note: T (total effect rate) = number of effective cases/total number of cases; effective case refers to the patients or animal models whose signs and symptoms were improved after treatment.