Lu Liu, 1 Claire-Shuiqing Zhang, 2 Hui-Lin Liu, 1 Fan He, 3 Tian-Li Lyu, 1 Lin Zeng, 4 Luo-Peng Zhao, 1 , 5 Mi-Na Wang, 1 Zheng-Yang Qu, 6 Li-Min Nie, 1 Jia Guo, 7 Xiao-Zhe Zhang, 8 Yong-Hui Lu, 9 Ke-Lun Wang, 10 Bin Li, 1 , * Xiang-Hong Jing, 6 , * and Lin-Peng Wang 1 , *

 

1Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Beijing Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Neuromodulation, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

2School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

3School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

4Research Centre of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

5Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

6Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

7Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

8Department of Pain Management, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

9Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

10Department of Health Science and Technology, Centre for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

Corresponding author.

Edited by: Zheng-jie Li, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China

Reviewed by: Liang-Xiao Ma, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, China; Zhifang Xu, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China

*Correspondence: Bin Li, moc.iygnohzjb@nibil

Xiang-Hong Jing, ten.362@bjthxj

Lin-Peng Wang, moc.anis@8555plw

This article was submitted to Perception Science, a section of the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience

 

 

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture, an alternative medicine therapy, as a preventive treatment for menstruation-related migraine (MRM).

Patients and methods

This was a prospective, multicenter, double-dummy, participant-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial conducted in China between 1 April 2013, and 30 April 2014. The participants were enrolled from four study centers and randomized to into either the acupuncture group, which received 24 sessions of acupuncture at traditional acupoints plus placebo, or the medication group, which received sham acupuncture plus naproxen. The primary endpoint was change from the baseline average number of migraine days per perimenstrual period over cycles 1−3. The secondary endpoints included changes from the baseline average number of migraine days outside the perimenstrual period, mean number of migraine hours during and outside the perimenstrual period, mean visual analog scale score during and outside the perimenstrual period, ≥50% migraine responder rate, and the proportion of participants who used acute pain medication over cycles 1−3 and 4−6.

Results

A total of 172 women with MRM were enrolled; 170 in the intention-to-treat analyses. Our primary outcome reported a significant between-group difference that favored the acupuncture group (95% CI, 0.17–0.50; P < 0.001), with the average reduction of migraine days per perimenstrual period from the baseline was 0.94 (95% CI, 0.82–1.07) in the acupuncture group and 0.61 (95% CI, 0.50–0.71) in the medication group over cycles 1−3.

Conclusion

This study showed that compared to medication, acupuncture reduces the number of migraine days experienced by patients with MRM. For patients who received the acupuncture treatment over three cycles, the preventive effect of the therapy was sustained for six cycles.

Clinical trial registration

[https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN57133712], identifier [ISRCTN15663606].

Keywords: acupuncture, alternative medicine, efficacy, menstruation-related migraine, prophylaxis, safety