Objective To investigate whether acupuncture reduces the duration and intensity of crying in infants with colic. Patients and methods 90 otherwise healthy infants, 2-8 weeks old, with infantile colic were randomised in this controlled blind study. 81 completed a structured programme consisting of six visits during 3 weeks to an acupuncture clinic in Sweden. Parents blinded to the allocation of their children met a blinded nurse. The infant was subsequently given to another nurse in a separate room, who handled all infants similarly except that infants allocated to receive acupuncture were given minimal, standardised acupuncture for 2 s in LI4. Results There was a difference (p=0.034) favouring the acupuncture group in the time which passed from inclusion until the infant no longer met the criteria for colic. The duration of fussing was lower in the acupuncture group the fi rst (74 vs 129 min; p=0.029) and second week (71 vs 102 min; p=0.047) as well as the duration of colicky crying in the second intervention week (9 vs 13 min; p=0.046) was lower in the acupuncture group. The total duration of fussing, crying and colicky crying (TC) was lower in the acupuncture group during the fi rst (193 vs 225 min; p=0.025) and the second intervention week (164 vs 188 min; p=0.016). The relative difference from baseline throughout the intervention weeks showed differences between groups for fussing in the fi rst week (22 vs 6 min; p=0.028), for colicky crying in the second week (92 vs 73 min; p=0.041) and for TC in the second week (44 vs 29 min; p=0.024), demonstrating favour towards the acupuncture group. Conclusions Minimal acupuncture shortened the duration and reduced the intensity of crying in infants with colic. Further research using different acupuncture points, needle techniques and intervals between treatments is required. INTRODUCTIONTen per cent of newborn children in the Western world experience colic.1 2 The aetiology is unclear but gastrointestinal factors and allergy to cow's milk protein have been suggested as possible causes. 3 Another suggestion is that colic is a behavioural condition resulting from unfavourable parent-infant interaction. 3 In three meta-analyses current medical treatments are evaluated as either ineffi cient (simethicone) or as having serious side effects like seizures, asphyxia and death [3][4][5] (dicyclomine, presently withheld by the manufacturer). In spite of the good prognosis of infantile colic with full spontaneous recovery, 6 colic inhibits optimal family relations [7][8][9] and increases the risk of child abuse. [10][11][12] Acupuncture is widely used and discussed in infantile colic. However, few articles have been published on this subject. Two uncontrolled studies report positive outcomes after acupuncture in children with night crying. 13 14 One qualitative study 15 and one randomised controlled study 16 also indicate that acupuncture has an effect on infants' crying. The objective of this study was to further investigate whether minimal acupuncture reduces the durat...

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Background: Hospitalized infants may undergo frequent painful procedures with inadequate pain relief. Alternative pain relief interventions are needed. Objective: The aim of this research was to determine the safety of noninvasive electrical stimulation of acupuncture points (NESAP) in neonates who were receiving routine heel sticks. Design: This was a descriptive study performed to assess the safety of using a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unit to deliver NESAP to neonates. Setting/Subjects: The subjects were healthy newborn infants < 3 days old before hospital discharge. Intervention: The intervention was NESAP delivered via a TENS unit, administered before, during, and after heel stick. The electrodes of the TENS unit were applied at four acupuncture points. Settings were gradually increased: 6 infants received 1.0 mA, 2 Hz; the second 6 infants received 2.0 mA, 10 Hz; and the last 18 infants received 3.5 mA, 10 Hz. Main Outcome Measures: Three main measures were used: (1) skin assessment (2) vital signs; (3) pain scores using the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP). Results: There were no significant changes in vital signs during and after NESAP. There were no changes in PIPP scores in the first 12 infants after initiation of NESAP. A slight but nonsignificant increase in PIPP scores (from 2.65 to 3.5 on a scale of 0-18) occurred in the last 18 infants. There were no adverse events during or after NESAP. Conclusions: NESAP is safe for infants with low settings on a TENS unit.