Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: Systematic review and meta-analysis

173Citations
Citations of this article
218Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate whether acupuncture improves rates of pregnancy and live birth when used as an adjuvant treatment to embryo transfer in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: Medline, Cochrane Central, Embase, Chinese Biomedical Database, hand searched abstracts, and reference lists. Review methods: Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials that compared needle acupuncture administered within one day of embryo transfer with sham acupuncture or no adjuvant treatment, with reported outcomes of at least one of clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, or live birth. Two reviewers independently agreed on eligibility; assessed methodological quality; and extracted outcome data. For all trials, investigators contributed additional data not included in the original publication (such as live births). Meta-analyses included all randomised patients. Data synthesis: Seven trials with 1366 women undergoing in vitro fertilisation were included in the meta-analyses. There was little clinical heterogeneity. Trials with sham acupuncture and no adjuvant treatment as controls were pooled for the primary analysis. Complementing the embryo transfer process with acupuncture was associated with significant and clinically relevant improvements in clinical pregnancy (odds ratio 1.65, 95% confidence interval 1.27 to 2.14; number needed to treat (NNT) 10 (7 to 17); seven trials), ongoing pregnancy (1.87, 1.40 to 2.49; NNT 9 (6 to 15); five trials), and live birth (1.91, 1.39 to 2.64; NNT 9 (6 to 17); four trials). Because we were unable to obtain outcome data on live births for three of the included trials, the pooled odds ratio for clinical pregnancy more accurately represents the true combined effect from these trials rather than the odds ratio for live birth. The results were robust to sensitivity analyses on study validity variables. A prespecified subgroup analysis restricted to the three trials with the higher rates of clinical pregnancy in the control group, however, suggested a smaller non-significant benefit of acupuncture (odds ratio 1.24, 0.86 to 1.77). Conclusions: Current preliminary evidence suggests that acupuncture given with embryo transfer improves rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation.

References Powered by Scopus

Systematic reviews in health care: Assessing the quality of controlled clinical trials

2400Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Antagonism of acupuncture analgesia in man by the narcotic antagonist naloxone

563Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

New findings of the correlation between acupoints and corresponding brain cortices using functional MRI

378Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Western medical acupuncture: A definition

165Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

The use of complementary and alternative fertility treatment in couples seeking fertility care: Data from a prospective cohort in the United States

149Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

The status and future of acupuncture clinical research

126Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Manheimer, E., Zhang, G., Udoff, L., Haramati, A., Langenberg, P., Berman, B. M., & Bouter, L. M. (2008). Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 336(7643), 545–549. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39471.430451.BE

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 66

63%

Researcher 21

20%

Professor / Associate Prof. 11

11%

Lecturer / Post doc 6

6%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Medicine and Dentistry 124

71%

Nursing and Health Professions 29

17%

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 13

7%

Social Sciences 9

5%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Mentions
Blog Mentions: 2
News Mentions: 4
References: 1
Social Media
Shares, Likes & Comments: 275

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free