OBJECTIVE:
To determine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for children with mumps.
METHODS:
We searched CENTRAL (2012, Issue 4), MEDLINE (1950 to April week 4, 2012), EMBASE (1974 to May 2012), CINAHL (1981 to May 2012), AMED (1985 to May 2012), the Chinese BioMedicine Database (CBM) (1979 to May 2012), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1979 to May 2012), Chinese Technology Periodical Database (CTPD) (1989 to May 2012) and WAN FANG database (1982 to May 2012). We also hand-searched a number of journals (from the first issue to the current issue).
Patient receiving acupuncture in China
A young patient receiving Acupuncture for mumps in China.
RESULTS:
Only one study with 239 participants met our inclusion criteria. There were a total of 120 participants in the acupuncture group, of which 106 recovered, with their temperature returning back to normal and no swelling or pain of the parotid gland; the condition of 14 participants improved, with a drop in temperature and alleviation of swelling or pain of the parotid gland. There were 119 participants in the Western medicine group, of which 56 recovered and the condition of 63 improved. The acupuncture group had a higher recovery rate than the control group. The relative RR of recovery was 1.88 (95% CI 1.53 to 2.30). However, the acupuncture group had a long time to cure than the control group. The mean was 4.20 days and the standard deviation (SD) was 0.46 in the acupuncture group, while in the control group the mean was 3.78 days and the SD was 0.46. There was a potential risk of bias in the study because of low methodological quality.
CONCLUSION:
We could not reach any confident conclusions about the efficacy and safety of acupuncture based on one study. More high-quality research is needed.
Resources
1- He J, Zheng M, Zhang M, Jiang H.
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