The Effects of Acupuncture on Cerebral and Muscular Microcirculation: A Systematic Review of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Studies
Item
Title
The Effects of Acupuncture on Cerebral and Muscular Microcirculation: A Systematic Review of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Studies
Author(s)
Journal Publication
Date
2015
volume
2015
pages
839470
Research Type
Systematic Review
Keywords
Abstract
Acupuncture produces physiological effects via stimulating acupoints, proximal or distal to the region of effect. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) noninvasively measures tissue-level hemodynamics in real time. We review the literature investigating the effect of acupuncture on muscular and/or cerebral microcirculation. As the basis, we queried PubMed in June 2014 for articles mentioning both acupuncture and NIRS in title/abstract. The reviewed papers investigated either cerebral (n = 11) or muscular hemodynamics (n = 5) and, based on STRICTA for reporting acupuncture methodology, were overall poor in quality. Acupuncture was found to influence regional oxygen saturation in cerebral and muscular tissue. The cortical response in healthy subjects varied across studies. For subjects with stroke or cerebrovascular dementia, findings suggest that acupuncture may modulate dysfunction in cerebral autoregulation. The muscular response to pressure techniques was more intense than that to needling or laser. Probe proximity could impact measurement sensitivity. No one study simultaneously investigated the direct and remote responses. Research utilizing NIRS to investigate the hemodynamics of acupuncture presently lacks in scope and quality. Improved designs, for example, placebo-controlled, randomized trials, and standardized intervention reporting will raise study quality. Exploiting NIRS in clinical settings, such as stroke, migraine, or other pain conditions, is worthwhile.
doi
10.1155/2015/839470
pmid
PMID:26221180; PMCID:PMC4480930
View on Pubmed
Language
English
has health condition studied
Miscellaneous
has study population number
0