A Randomized Clinical Trial on Acupuncture Versus Best Medical Therapy in Episodic Migraine Prophylaxis: The Acumigran Study

Abstract

BackgroundA large corpus of evidence has reported encouraging results for acupuncture as a prophylaxis therapy of migraine. However, trails investigated the efficacy of acupuncture in comparison to pharmacological treatment in episodic migraine showed conflicting results. The aim of the study was to evaluate if acupuncture is as effective as evidence based pharmacological drugs in episodic migraine prophylaxis. MethodsThis is a randomized controlled clinical study. Patient suffering from migraine without preventive treatment in the past three months were recruited. After the run-in period, episodic migraineurs were assigned randomly to two groups: the acupuncture group (A) was treated with 12 sessions of acupuncture and the pharmacological group (B) was treated with the most appropriate medication for each patient. Headache frequency was compared at baseline and at the end of treatment. Both groups were evaluated 3- and 6-months after treatment.ResultsA total of 148 patients (24 males and 124 females) were enrolled in the study. Out of these, 69 were randomized to A and 66 to B. At baseline no significantly differences were found between the two groups. The 15.5% of patients (21/135) interrupted the treatment, especially those randomized to B. After 4 months, the migraine frequency decreased from 8.58 ± 3.21 to 6.43 ± 3.45 in A and from 8.29 ± 2.72 to 6.27 ± 4.01 in B. Headache frequency decreased significantly after treatment without differences between the two groups (time-effect: p<0.001; group effect: p=0.332; interaction time-group effects: p=0.556). About 34% of patients showed a reduction of headache days by at least 50% after the treatment. The improvements observed at the end of treatment persisted in 57.3% (59/103) after 3 months and in 38.8% (40/103) after 6 months, especially in patients randomized to A.ConclusionsOur trial is the first one comparing acupuncture with the more appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis. Data suggested that acupuncture could be adopted as a migraine prophylaxis and seem to be slightly superior to pharmacological treatment in compliance and rate of adverse events.

The durable effect of acupuncture for episodic migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Recently, one prospective, randomized controlled trial compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2020). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the most appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

The durable effect of acupuncture for episodic migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Recently, one prospective, randomized controlled trial compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2020). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the most appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

Research hotspots and trends on acupuncture treatment for headache: a bibliometric analysis from 2003 to 2023

“…However, recently, one prospective, randomized controlled, study compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2021). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the more appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

The use of acupuncture for addressing neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Two studies compared the overall scores between acupuncture and medication ( 24 , 90 ), and no significant difference was reported (MD: 0.03, 95% CIs: −0.86 to 0.91, I 2 = 0%, P = 0.95) ( Figure 6 ).…”

The durable effect of acupuncture for episodic migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Recently, one prospective, randomized controlled trial compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2020). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the most appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

Research hotspots and trends on acupuncture treatment for headache: a bibliometric analysis from 2003 to 2023

“…However, recently, one prospective, randomized controlled, study compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2021). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the more appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

The use of acupuncture for addressing neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Two studies compared the overall scores between acupuncture and medication ( 24 , 90 ), and no significant difference was reported (MD: 0.03, 95% CIs: −0.86 to 0.91, I 2 = 0%, P = 0.95) ( Figure 6 ).…”

The durable effect of acupuncture for episodic migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Recently, one prospective, randomized controlled trial compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2020). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the most appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

Research hotspots and trends on acupuncture treatment for headache: a bibliometric analysis from 2003 to 2023

“…However, recently, one prospective, randomized controlled, study compared acupuncture with the best prophylactic drugs for patients taking into consideration comorbidities (i.e., depression, insomnia, hypertension, etc.) and previous preventive treatment (Giannini et al, 2021). This trial showed that acupuncture was as effective as the more appropriate pharmacological treatment for migraine prophylaxis.…”

The use of acupuncture for addressing neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Two studies compared the overall scores between acupuncture and medication ( 24 , 90 ), and no significant difference was reported (MD: 0.03, 95% CIs: −0.86 to 0.91, I 2 = 0%, P = 0.95) ( Figure 6 ).…”