Efficacy of Acupuncture versus Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill in Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM
Intira SriprasertSupanimit Teekachunhatean

Abstract

This open-label randomized controlled trial was designed to compare the efficacy of acupuncture and combined oral contraceptive (COC) pill in treating moderate-to-severe primary dysmenorrhea. Fifty-two participants were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture (n = 27) or COC (n = 25) for three menstrual cycles. Mefenamic acid was prescribed as a recue analgesic drug with both groups. The statistical approach used for efficacy and safety assessments was intention-to-treat analysis. By the end of the study, both treatments had resulted in significant improvement over baselines in all outcomes, that is, maximal dysmenorrhea pain scores, days suffering from dysmenorrhea, amount of rescue analgesic used, and quality of life assessed by SF-36 questionnaire. Over the three treatment cycles, COC caused greater reduction in maximal pain scores than acupuncture, while improvements in the remaining outcomes were comparable. Responders were defined as participants whose maximal dysmenorrhea pain scores decreased at least 33% below their baseline. Response rates following both interventions at the end of the study were not statistically different. Acupuncture commonly caused minimal local side effects but did not cause any hormone-r...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 19, 2016·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Caroline A SmithJing Song
Dec 28, 2018·Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents·Sávia Francisca Lopes DiasLívio César Cunha Nunes
Jan 24, 2018·Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM·Si-Yi YuJie Yang
Feb 20, 2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Zofia BarcikowskaKatarzyna Zorena

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