Efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of fibromyalgia: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials

Objective: The study sought to ascertain the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for fibromyalgia

Materials and methods: THE FOLLOWING ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED: PubMed; The Cochrane Library (CENTRAL); EMBASE; CINAHL; and Pascal Biomed (last date of search: January 2008). We analyzed pain intensity and patient withdrawals prior to termination of the study. A meta-analysis was performed, and a weighted global effect obtained using the inverse of variance.

Results: This review covered a total of 6 studies (323 subjects). No statistically significant differences were observed in terms of pain intensity (VAS): 0.02 (-0.24 a 0.28) or withdrawals: RR 0.91 (0.53 a 1.58)

Conclusion: This systematic review found no evidence of benefit resulting from acupuncture versus placebo, as a treatment for fibromyalgia.