PMID- 33375924
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210716
LR  - 20210716
IS  - 1793-6853 (Electronic)
IS  - 0192-415X (Linking)
VI  - 49
IP  - 1
DP  - 2021
TI  - Battlefield Acupuncture for Adult Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 
      Randomized Controlled Trials.
PG  - 25-40
LID - 10.1142/S0192415X21500026 [doi]
AB  - Pain is a major public health problem, causing heavy social and economic burdens 
      to patients and society while consuming tremendous medical resources at the same 
      time. Thus, there is a critical need to find low-cost, efficacious, and 
      therapeutic approaches to help manage pain. While acupuncture is increasingly 
      recognized as a promising pain-relieving method, less is known about a specific 
      form of auricular acupuncture known as Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA). The BFA 
      technique involves the sequential placement of semi-permanent, single-use, French 
      ASP[Formula: see text] golden needles to five specific acupoints in one or both 
      ears, where they are left in place for 3-4 days or longer [Niemtzow, R.C., 
      Battlefield acupuncture. Med. Acupunct. 19: 225-228, 2007]. The BFA needles (more 
      accurately described as tiny conical darts) pierce the ear in designated 
      locations in a particular order [Levy, C.E., N. Casler and D.B. FitzGerald. 
      Battlefield acupuncture: an emerging method for easing pain. Am. J. Phys. Med. 
      Rehabil. 97: e18-e19, 2018.]. (Figs. 4 and 5) It was developed by Dr. Richard C. 
      Niemtzow in 2001, as a subgroup form of an auricular acupuncture technique based 
      on the somatotopic arrangement of an inverted fetus pattern on the external ear 
      [Romoli, M. Ear acupuncture: historical abstract-differences of ear cartography 
      between the east and the west. Dtsch. Z. Akupunkt. 53: 24-33, 2010.]. Currently, 
      BFA is widely used in the US military, but to our knowledge, there is no review 
      which comprehensively synthesizes the current publications surrounding pain 
      management. This review aims to investigate the effects and safety of BFA in 
      adults with pain. Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled 
      trials (RCTs) published in English evaluating efficacy and safety of BFA in 
      adults with pain, from database inception to September 6, 2019. The primary 
      outcome was pain intensity change, and the secondary outcome was safety. Nine 
      RCTs were included in this review, and five trials involving 344 participants 
      were analyzed quantitatively. Compared with no intervention, usual care, sham 
      BFA, and delayed BFA interventions, BFA had no significant improvement in the 
      pain intensity felt by adults suffering from pain. Few adverse effects (AEs) were 
      reported with BFA therapy, but they were mild and transitory. BFA is a safe, 
      rapid, and easily learned acupuncture technique, mainly used in acute pain 
      management, but no significant efficacy was found in adult individuals with pain, 
      compared with the control groups. Given the poor methodological quality of the 
      included studies, high-quality RCTs with rigorous evaluation methods are needed 
      in the future.
FAU - Yang, Juan
AU  - Yang J
AD  - Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United 
      States of America.
AD  - Department of Pain Medicine, Shenzhen Nanshan People's Hospital, Guangdong, 
      Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518052, P. R. China.
FAU - Ganesh, Ravindra
AU  - Ganesh R
AD  - Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United 
      States of America.
FAU - Wu, Qinglong
AU  - Wu Q
AD  - College of Acupuncture and Rehabilitation, Guangzhou University of Traditional, 
      Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, P. R. China.
FAU - Li, Langping
AU  - Li L
AD  - Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital Luwan Branch, Shanghai Jiao Tong, 
      University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200020, P. R. China.
FAU - Ogletree, Sandra P
AU  - Ogletree SP
AD  - Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 
      55905, United States of America.
FAU - Del Fabro, Anna S
AU  - Del Fabro AS
AD  - Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 
      55905, United States of America.
FAU - Wahner-Roedler, Dietlind L
AU  - Wahner-Roedler DL
AD  - Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United 
      States of America.
FAU - Xiong, Donglin
AU  - Xiong D
AD  - Department of Pain Medicine, Shenzhen Nanshan People's Hospital, Guangdong, 
      Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518052, P. R. China.
FAU - Bauer, Brent A
AU  - Bauer BA
AD  - Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United 
      States of America.
FAU - Chon, Tony Y
AU  - Chon TY
AD  - Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United 
      States of America.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Meta-Analysis
PT  - Systematic Review
DEP - 20201229
PL  - Singapore
TA  - Am J Chin Med
JT  - The American journal of Chinese medicine
JID - 7901431
SB  - IM
MH  - *Acupuncture Points
MH  - Acupuncture, Ear/*methods
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Aged, 80 and over
MH  - *Ear
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Needles
MH  - Pain Management/*methods
MH  - *Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
MH  - Treatment Outcome
MH  - Young Adult
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Adult
OT  - Auricular Acupuncture
OT  - Battlefield Acupuncture
OT  - Pain
OT  - Review
EDAT- 2020/12/31 06:00
MHDA- 2021/07/17 06:00
CRDT- 2020/12/30 05:15
PHST- 2020/12/31 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/07/17 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2020/12/30 05:15 [entrez]
AID - 10.1142/S0192415X21500026 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Am J Chin Med. 2021;49(1):25-40. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X21500026. Epub 2020 Dec 
      29.