Xu Y, et al. – The efficacy of acupoint–stimulation was contemplated in this paper, in comparison with Non–Steroidal Anti–Inflammatory Drugs (NASIDs) in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea (PD). It was deduced that the acupoint–stimulation could relieve pain effectively in the treatment of PD. This technique yielded advantages in increasing the overall effectiveness.

Methods

• Data was extracted from 6 databases upto December 2014.
• It encompassed 16 studies involving 1679 PD patients.
• Randomized controlled trials comparing acupoint-stimulation with NASIDs for the treatment of PD were selected.
• The main outcomes were clinical effectiveness rate, symptom score, visual analogue score, variation in peripheral blood prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) and side effects.
• The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis statistical software conducted the analyses.

Results

• The total efficacy was better than control group: Odds ratio = 5.57; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 3.96, 7.83; P < 0.00001.
• Positive effect was noted of the intervention, in relieving the severity of PD symptoms: Mean difference (MD) = 2.99; 95%CI = 2.49, 3.49; P < 0.00001.
• There were no statistical variations between two groups with regard to a reduction in the VAS: MD = 1.24; 95%CI = -3.37, 5.85; P = 0.60.
• The effect of intervention on the variation in peripheral blood PGF2α between two groups was positive: MD = 7.55; 95%CI = 4.29,10.82; P < 0.00001.
• The side effects of control groups appeared to be more than the acupoint-stimulation group: OR = 0.03; 95%CI =0.00,0.22; P = 0.0005.