Can acupuncture have specific effects on health? A systematic review of acupuncture antiemesis trials.
A.J. Vickers
Abstract
The effects of acupuncture on health are generally hard to assess. Stimulation of the P6 acupuncture point is used to
obtain an antiemetic effect and this provides an excellent model to study the efficacy of acupuncture. Thirty-three
controlled trials have been published worldwide in which the P6 acupuncture point was stimulated for treatment of
nausea and/or vomiting associated with chemotherapy, pregnancy, or surgery. P6 acupuncture was equal or inferior to
control in all four trials in which it was administered under anaesthesia; in 27 of the remaining 29 trials acupuncture was
statistically superior. A second analysis was restricted to 12 high-quality randomized placebo-controlled trials in which
P6 acupuncture point stimulation was not administered under anaesthesia. Eleven of these trials, involving nearly 2000
patients, showed an effect of P6. The reviewed papers showed consistent results across different investigators, different
groups of patients, and different forms of acupuncture point stimulation. Except when administered under anaesthesia,
P6 acupuncture point stimulation seems to be an effective antiemetic technique. Researchers are faced with a choice
between deciding that acupuncture does have specific effects, and changing from 'Does acupuncture work?' to a set of
more practical questions; or deciding that the evidence on P6 antiemesis does not provide sufficient proof, and specifying
what would constitute acceptable evidence.