Summarizing acupuncture’s effect on pregnancy 2006-2008
 Here’s a summary of reviews and research in this area of practice since the beginning of this blog.
I went back to each post on reviews and original research of acupuncture/pregnancy that appeared on this blog since 2006. The objective was to assess study size and conclusions based on the use of acupuncture.
Reviews
University of Southampton, UK
- 13 studies reviewed.
- Acupuncture should not be offered during the luteal phase in routine clinical practice.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London
- 13 studies in 2500 women
- No difference in clinical pregnancy associated with acupuncture around the time of egg collection (5 study meta-analysis).
- No difference in the clinical pregnancy rate around the time of embryo transfer (8 meta-analysis).
- No significant increase in live birth rate around the time of embryo transfer (5 of 8 studies).
University of Maryland and Georgetown University School of Medicine in the US and University Amsterdam De Boelelaan, Netherlands
- 7 studies of 1366 women
- Significant improvements in clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and live births when embryo transfer is combined with acupuncture.
Studies
Harvard Medical School, Boston
- 150 women
- No difference in the rate of pregnancy with acupuncture 25-minute treatment before and after embryo transfer.
Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey
- 32 women
- No improvement in pregnancy rates following in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer when acupuncture was performed twice weekly during the follicular and luteal phase.
Kaali Institute IVF Center, Budapest and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York
- Combined results from 2 studies in 481 women
- No difference in chemical, clinical pregnancy, and implantation rates with needle acupuncture, laser acupuncture, and sham laser acupuncture vs. no treatment.
Report of 3 studies
Fertility Clinic Trianglen, Hellerup, Denmark
- 273 women
- Significantly higher clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates with acupuncture immediately before embryo transfer vs before and 2 days later.
University of Witten/Herdecke in Dortmund, Germany
- 225 women
- A positive effect on clinical pregnancy rate and ongoing pregnancy rate with luteal-phase acupuncture.
University of South Australia
- 228 women
- No difference in pregnancy rate following 3 sessions: day 9 of stimulating injections, then second day before and the third day after transfer “according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine.”
The bottom line?
There appears to be a difference of opinion in the value of acupuncture as a complementary treatment during in vitro fertilization.
Studies tend to include large populations. And the quality of studies is generally good, permitting reviewers to assess the combined results (meta-analysis). However, reviewers from the US and Netherlands list many variables that might influence results and should be addressed in future studies.
- Age
- Diagnostic categories of infertility
- Duration of infertility
- Numbers of previous treatment cycles
- Quality of embryos
- Timing of the acupuncture sessions relative to embryo transfer
10/15/08 22:39 JR