SynthesisAcupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society2014
The safety of acupuncture during pregnancy: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and safety of acupuncture monotherapy or combined with pelvic floor muscle training for female stress urinary incontinence: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of Acupuncture on the p38 Signaling Pathway in Several Nervous System Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Pooled it
- The effects of acupuncture on pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Acupuncture for adults with overactive bladder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Physical Therapists' Views and Experiences of Pregnancy-Related Low Back Pain and the Role of Acupuncture: Qualitative Exploration.Physical therapy · 2015Trial
- Intrapartum Acupuncture Provision in the UK: A Survey of Independent Acupuncture Practitioners.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Gastrointestinal symptoms and disorders of gut-brain interaction in pregnancy.Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology · 2026Review
- Advancing Safety in Acupuncture: Strategies, Best Practices, and Training for a Risk-Free Practice.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Acupuncture Safety in Taiwan.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Safety of Acupuncture in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Pain Relief During Cystoscopic Ureteral Stent Extraction by Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation: A Double-Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Recent advances in acupuncture for pain relief.Pain reports · 2024Article
- Diagnosis and treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2024Review
- Article
- Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for pregnancy-related low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Auricular Acupuncture for Lowering Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes: A Pilot Study.Medical acupuncture · 2023Article
- Midwifery Acupuncturists' Management of Antenatal Anxiety and Depression: Data from a Survey in Aotearoa (New Zealand).Medical acupuncture · 2023Article
- Evidence for the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: A Literature Review.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAlthough there is a growing interest in the use of acupuncture during pregnancy, the safety of acupuncture is yet to be rigorously investigated. The objective of this review is to identify adverse events (AEs) associated with acupuncture treatment during pregnancy.
methodsWe searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED) and five Korean databases up to February 2013. Reference lists of relevant articles were screened for additional reports. Studies were included regardless of their design if they reported original data and involved acupuncture needling and/or moxibustion treatment for any conditions in pregnant women. Studies of acupuncture for delivery, abortion, assisted reproduction or postpartum conditions were excluded. AE data were extracted and assessed in terms of severity and causality, and incidence was determined.
resultsOf 105 included studies, detailed AEs were reported only in 25 studies represented by 27 articles (25.7%). AEs evaluated as certain, probable or possible in the causality assessment were all mild/moderate in severity, with needling pain being the most frequent. Severe AEs or deaths were few and all considered unlikely to have been caused by acupuncture. Total AE incidence was 1.9%, and the incidence of AEs evaluated as certainly, probably or possibly causally related to acupuncture was 1.3%.
conclusionsAcupuncture during pregnancy appears to be associated with few AEs when correctly applied.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.