Effect of acupuncture in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Xue, C. C.

English, R.

Zhang, J. J.

Da Costa, C.

Li, C. G.

The American journal of Chinese medicine

2002

30(1)

RCT

Acu Versus Sham

Acupuncture

Allergies

Cross-Over Design

Penetrating Sham

Near Verum Acupoint Control

RCT

Restricted Modalities, Acupuncture Only

Semi-Individualized Acupuncture Protocol

Superficial Needling Depth

Traditional Diagnosis Based Point Selection

TCM Acupuncture Style

Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal

Respiratory Tract Diseases

The clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis (SAR) was evaluated by employing a two-phase crossover single-blind clinical trial. Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to two groups with 17 and 13 subjects respectively and treated with real or sham acupuncture (three times per week) for four consecutive weeks and then a crossover for treatments for a further four weeks without a washout period. The administration of real acupuncture treatment was guided by a syndrome differentiation according to Chinese Medicine Theory. Subjects were assessed by various criteria before, during and after the treatments. Outcome measures included subjective symptom scores using a five-point scale (FPS), relief medication scores (RMS) and adverse effect records. Twenty-six (26) subjects completed the study. There was a significant improvement in FPS (nasal and non-nasal symptoms) between the two types of acupuncture treatments. No significant differences were shown in RMS between the real acupuncture treatment group and the sham acupuncture treatment group. No side effects were observed for both groups. The results indicate that acupuncture is an effective and safe alternative treatment for the management of SAR

Respiratory Tract Diseases

>1/WK

30

4 Weeks