Table 1.
The acupuncture techniques and corresponding retention times, number of sessions, and acupuncture prescript.
| Acupoint | Acupuncture techniques | References | Acupuncture prescription | Needle retention time, sessions, and duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrist-ankle acupoints | WAA | Liu et al. (37) | According to WAA theory, select the treatment area on the wrist or/and ankle corresponding to the location of pain | For moderate pain, each treatment lasted 10 h, for severe pain, each treatment lasted 12 h, once a day for 3 weeks. |
| Su et al. (40) | According to WAA theory, select the treatment area on the wrist or/and ankle corresponding to the location of pain | Each treatment lasted 9–12 h and was carried out once a day for 10 days. | ||
| Wang et al. (42) | According to WAA theory, select the treatment area on the wrist or/and ankle corresponding to the location of pain | For moderate pain, each treatment lasted 10 h, for severe pain, the session and duration were unknown. | ||
| Ear acupoints | APA | Huang et al. (36) | Three main fixed ear acupoints: TF4, AH6a, AT4, and 6 optional points AH9, AH11, AH13, AH5, AH4, AH3, which could be selected based on the sites of bone metastases. | The ear seed tapes were changed twice a week, press each of their taped acupoints at least 6 times a day for at least 3 min every time, for 8 weeks. |
| Wang et al. (41) | CO4, CO12, CO13, CO3, AH6a, TF4, AT4, HX2, CO7, AH8, CO17, and CO14 was fixed ear acupoints, other ear points could be selected based on the sites of bone metastases. | The ear seed tapes were changed once a day, press each of their taped acupoints at least nine times a day for at least 3 min every time, treatment duration was unknown. | ||
| Meridian acupoints | TEAS | Du et al. (34) | BL11, BL23, ST36, SP6. | Each treatment lasted 30 min and was carried out once a day for 4 weeks. |
| Tai et al. (46) | LI4, PC6, SJ5, ST36, SP6, EX-B2. | Treatment for 5 days, twice a day. | ||
| WA | Yao et al. (44) | ST36, RN4, RN6, Ashi. | Each treatment lasted 30 min and was carried out once a week for 4 weeks. | |
| MA | Lu et al. (38) | ST36, BL11, GB39, SP10, KI3, SI3, Ashi. | Each treatment lasted 30 min and was carried out once a day for 5 days. | |
| Zhao et al. (45) | BL2, KI3 | Each treatment lasted 30 min, treatment was given for 5 days, then 2 days off, followed by treatment every day for 2 months. | ||
| TTA | Yan (43) | BL23, BL24, BL25, KI3 | Thumb-tack needles were changed once a day, press each acupoints at least 6 times a day for at least 1 min every time, for 15 days. | |
| CET | Gou et al. (35) | ST36, BL11, GB39, BL23, BL20, Ashi | The ACE treatment was performed every 1 weeks for a duration of 2 weeks. | |
| Combination | APA & WAA | Ni et al. (39) | • APA: three main fixed ear acupoints:CO14, AH11, TF4, CO17, and sensitive points in ear according the different locations of pain, selected 5~6 ear points every time . • WAA: according to WAA theory, select the treatment area on the wrist or/and ankle corresponding to the location of pain |
• APA: the ear seed tapes were changed twice a week, press each of their taped acupoints at least 3 times a day for at least 2 min every time, for 2 weeks . • WAA: each treatment lasted 1 h and was carried out once a day for 2 weeks. |
WAA, wrist-ankle acupuncture; TEAS, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation; APA, auricular point acupressure; TTA, thumb-tack acupuncture; CET, catgut-embedding therapy; APA, auricular point acupressure; MA, manual acupuncture; WA, warm acupuncture.