Acupuncture

Acupuncture as Complementary Treatment for Acute Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Background: Up to now, tinnitus has been an almost non-treatable symptom affecting more than 18% of the population in industrialized countries. So far, there are only a few studies evaluating the effectiveness of acupuncture in tinnitus treatment, none of which include acute tinnitus (<3 months). The aim of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility of recruitment and adherence to acupuncture conducted according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine in patients with acute idiopathic tinnitus and to assess effect sizes on subjective and objective outcomes within a randomized controlled design.

Patients and Methods: After randomization patients of the control group received usual care (n = 23), and patients of the intervention group (n = 25) received 4 additional acupuncture treatments in a 4- to 6-week period. Tinnitus severity was assessed by means of a visual analogue scale as well as standardized and validated tinnitus questionnaires (Tinnitus Functional Index and 12-item Mini Tinnitus Questionnaire) at baseline and 6 weeks after. These subjective parameters were completed by tone audiometry. Comparisons of the groups were carried out using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.

Results: Both groups were comparable without significant differences in baseline values. All outcomes, except for the overall well-being, showed better improvements in the intervention group with clinically significant differences from baseline to end point. However, among the outcomes only the subjective change in tinnitus severity showed a significant group difference. No serious side effects were observed.

Conclusion: The design of our pilot study was feasible in terms of recruitment, although patient adherence to treatment remained challenging. However, considering the small intergroup differences, procedures regarding the numbers of acupuncture sessions and the total period of the acupuncture treatment should be reconsidered. The results of this pilot study provide a good basis for future confirmatory trials.

Source: https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/508630

 

No information (in this abstract) about cause and duration of tinnitus.

Acupuncture for tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract
Objective:
To evaluate the efficacy/effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of tinnitus.

Methods:
Four English and four Chinese databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for tinnitus published before 30 September 2018. RCTs applying acupuncture alone compared with conventional treatments, sham acupuncture, or no treatment, as well as acupuncture plus conventional treatments compared with conventional treatments alone, were included. The primary outcome was the visual analogue scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes included tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) and tinnitus severity index (TSI) scores. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan V5.3 software. The protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (ref. CRD42018108692).

Results:
Eight studies involving 504 participants were included. Meta-analysis showed no significant differences in the VAS score (mean difference (MD) = −1.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −3.69 to 0.07; p = 0.06) between the acupuncture and control groups. However, favorable effects of acupuncture on changes in THI score (MD = −10.11, 95% CI = −12.74 to −7.48; p < 0.001) and TSI score (MD = −8.36, 95% CI = −8.87 to −7.86; p < 0.001) were found.

Conclusion:
Acupuncture had no significant effect on the primary outcome of VAS score compared with control treatment; however, positive effects on secondary outcomes (THI and TSI score) were observed in acupuncture versus control groups. Due to the low quality and small sample size of the included trials, the level of evidence was insufficient to draw any definitive conclusions. Further rigorous and high-quality studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted to confirm the efficacy/effectiveness of acupuncture for tinnitus.

Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0964528420938380

 

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion for primary tinnitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Conclusion: The results showed that acupuncture and moxibustion for primary tinnitus yielded the greatest decrease in tinnitus severity and improvement in quality of life. Due to the low quality of GRADE evidence grade, the considerable heterogeneity among trials for several data syntheses, more high-quality studies with large sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are urgently needed.