Effects of Sanyinjiao (SP6) with electroacupuncture on labour pain in women during labour

Sham Electroacupuncture Methods in Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Among them, 5 studies29549095107 were published between 1992 and 1999; 33 studies22242527303138454752535657586768717273747778818384929397104105106110111 were published between 2000 and 2010; the remaining 56 studies1819202123262832333435363739404142434446484950515559606162636465666970757679808285868788899194969899100101102103108109 were reported from 2010 to 2015 (Fig. 2).…”

“…2). Indications for EA included pain (32 studies)1819212426273133363740424547515256606667727682848890929697103110111, anesthesia (8 studies)46507374868994102, stroke (7 studies)2528293462105106, depression (6 studies)235359656880, obesity (4 studies)32495470, primary dysmenorrheal/menstrual pain (4 studies)619899101, substance abuse (heroin or smoking) (3 studies)6495107, osteoarthritis (2 studies)22104, migraine (2 studies)3978, nausea and vomiting (2 studies)3857, postoperative ileus (2 studies)3591, insomnia (2 studies)6381, benign prostate hyperplasia (2 studies)7987, diabetic mellitus related diseases (2 studies)83109, carpal tunnel syndrome (1 study)100, rheumatoid arthritis (1 study)93, whiplash-associated disorders (1 study)69, constipation (1 study)48, multiple sclerosis (1 study)41, tinnitus (1 study)20, auditory hallucination (1 study)30, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (1 study)…”

“…EA treatment alone was adopted in 55 trials1920212223242526282930313435363738394243535558606166686971727577787980838485868788899091959899100101103104107108110111, while the interventions of the remaining 39 trials were a combination of EA and western conventional medicine (WCM). Four trials244754100 were designed as two groups of EA, and seven trials384361639899101 were conducted with two groups of sham EA.…”

“…The other trials were lacking in details on the intensity of stimulation. The duration of each session ranged from 5 minutes100 to 72 hours96; the total number of treatment sessions varied from 1333738394647505152727377828486888994959697100101102109 to 7244; the total duration of treatment ranged from 5 minutes100 to 6 months111. Ten studies274672767779899097102 did not report the duration of each session.…”

“…Ten different types of sham EA methods used in the trials were identified as follows: (1) sham EA type A were used in twenty-six control groups18192021223133374060666773747681949697102103104106108109110; (2) sham EA type B were used in seven control groups232459658488105; (3) sham EA type C were used in seven control groups28444749517582; (4) sham EA type D were used in six control groups294362647293; (5) sham EA type F were used in seven control groups386171789899101; (6) sham EA type L were used in seventeen control groups26273943464850535461777985899899101; (7) sham EA type M were used in three control groups426869; (8) sham EA type N were used in four control groups63839095; (9) sham EA type O were used in fourteen control groups303235414556575870808687…”