PMID- 28611366
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20190206
LR  - 20220331
IS  - 2045-2322 (Electronic)
IS  - 2045-2322 (Linking)
VI  - 7
IP  - 1
DP  - 2017 Jun 13
TI  - Safety of Acupuncture: Overview of Systematic Reviews.
PG  - 3369
LID - 10.1038/s41598-017-03272-0 [doi]
LID - 3369
AB  - Acupuncture is increasingly used worldwide. It is becoming more accepted by both 
      patients and healthcare providers. However, the current understanding of its 
      adverse events (AEs) is fragmented. We conducted this overview to collect all 
      systematic reviews (SRs) on the AEs of acupuncture and related therapies. MEDLINE 
      and EMBASE were searched from inception to December 2015. Methodological quality 
      of included reviews was assessed with a validated instrument. Evidence was 
      narratively reported. Seventeen SRs covering various types of acupuncture were 
      included. Methodological quality of the reviews was overall mediocre. Four major 
      categories of AEs were identified, which are organ or tissue injuries (13 
      reviews, median: 36 cases, median deaths: 4), infections (11 reviews, median: 17 
      cases, median deaths: 0.5), local AEs or reactions (12 reviews, median: 8.5 
      cases, no deaths were reported), and other complications such as dizziness or 
      syncope (11 reviews, median: 21 cases, no deaths were reported). Minor and 
      serious AEs can occur during the use of acupuncture and related modalities, 
      contrary to the common impression that acupuncture is harmless. Serious AEs are 
      rare, but need significant attention as mortality can be associated with them. 
      Referrals should consider acupuncturists' training credibility, and patient 
      safety should be a core part of acupuncture education.
FAU - Chan, Malcolm W C
AU  - Chan MWC
AD  - Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 
      Hong Kong, China.
AD  - Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
FAU - Wu, Xin Yin
AU  - Wu XY
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3772-2376
AD  - Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 
      Hong Kong, China.
AD  - Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of 
      Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
AD  - Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese Cochrane Centre, The Chinese University of Hong 
      Kong, Hong Kong, China.
FAU - Wu, Justin C Y
AU  - Wu JCY
AD  - Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 
      Hong Kong, China.
FAU - Wong, Samuel Y S
AU  - Wong SYS
AD  - Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of 
      Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
FAU - Chung, Vincent C H
AU  - Chung VCH
AD  - Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 
      Hong Kong, China. vchung@cuhk.edu.hk.
AD  - Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of 
      Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. vchung@cuhk.edu.hk.
AD  - Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese Cochrane Centre, The Chinese University of Hong 
      Kong, Hong Kong, China. vchung@cuhk.edu.hk.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Systematic Review
DEP - 20170613
PL  - England
TA  - Sci Rep
JT  - Scientific reports
JID - 101563288
SB  - IM
MH  - Acupuncture Therapy/*standards
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Patient Safety
PMC - PMC5469776
COIS- The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
EDAT- 2017/06/15 06:00
MHDA- 2019/02/07 06:00
PMCR- 2017/06/13
CRDT- 2017/06/15 06:00
PHST- 2016/09/15 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2017/04/26 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2017/06/15 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2017/06/15 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2019/02/07 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2017/06/13 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-017-03272-0 [pii]
AID - 3272 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-017-03272-0 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 13;7(1):3369. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03272-0.