TY - JOUR

T1 - Acupuncture in the Management of Trigeminal Neuralgia

AU - Edwards, James

AU - Shaw, Vivien

PY - 2021/6/1

Y1 - 2021/6/1

N2 - Background We aimed to assess the standing of acupuncture as a clinical tool in the management of trigeminal neuralgia against the current first-line drug treatment (carbamazepine) and the most effective surgery (microvascular decompression (MVD)). Methods Data regarding efficacy, side effects and cost were compiled for each of these three modalities from the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases. Patient stress was estimated according to Holmes and Rahe’s Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). Results Acupuncture was not significantly more effective than its corresponding control (p = 0.088), but had the greatest efficacy (mean ± 95% confidence interval) of the modalities considered (86.5% ± 5.6% compared to surgery (79.3% ± 7.7%) and pharmacotherapy (71.7% ± 2.5%), respectively). Acupuncture also had fewer mean reported side effects (22.7% ± 5.9%) compared with surgery (25.3% ± 12.6%) and pharmacotherapy (88.8% ± 25.0%), and the lowest cost; after 5 years, the cost of acupuncture was estimated to be £750, compared to £1507.73 for carbamazepine and £4878.42 for MVD. Acupuncture was the least stressful according to the SRRS (53 points), whereas surgery was second most stressful (153 points) and pharmacotherapy was the most stressful intervention to patients (217 points). Conclusion Acupuncture appears more effective than pharmacotherapy or surgery. Statistical analysis of side effects was not possible due to inconsistent reporting protocols, but the data suggest that acupuncture is considerably safer than pharmacotherapy or surgery. Acupuncture also appears to be the least expensive therapeutic modality to deliver long-term (65 weeks onwards), and our analysis indicated that it was less stressful to patients than pharmacotherapy or surgery. Further study into these areas and the practicality of its availability in the UK National Health Service (NHS) and other health systems is recommended.

AB - Background We aimed to assess the standing of acupuncture as a clinical tool in the management of trigeminal neuralgia against the current first-line drug treatment (carbamazepine) and the most effective surgery (microvascular decompression (MVD)). Methods Data regarding efficacy, side effects and cost were compiled for each of these three modalities from the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases. Patient stress was estimated according to Holmes and Rahe’s Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). Results Acupuncture was not significantly more effective than its corresponding control (p = 0.088), but had the greatest efficacy (mean ± 95% confidence interval) of the modalities considered (86.5% ± 5.6% compared to surgery (79.3% ± 7.7%) and pharmacotherapy (71.7% ± 2.5%), respectively). Acupuncture also had fewer mean reported side effects (22.7% ± 5.9%) compared with surgery (25.3% ± 12.6%) and pharmacotherapy (88.8% ± 25.0%), and the lowest cost; after 5 years, the cost of acupuncture was estimated to be £750, compared to £1507.73 for carbamazepine and £4878.42 for MVD. Acupuncture was the least stressful according to the SRRS (53 points), whereas surgery was second most stressful (153 points) and pharmacotherapy was the most stressful intervention to patients (217 points). Conclusion Acupuncture appears more effective than pharmacotherapy or surgery. Statistical analysis of side effects was not possible due to inconsistent reporting protocols, but the data suggest that acupuncture is considerably safer than pharmacotherapy or surgery. Acupuncture also appears to be the least expensive therapeutic modality to deliver long-term (65 weeks onwards), and our analysis indicated that it was less stressful to patients than pharmacotherapy or surgery. Further study into these areas and the practicality of its availability in the UK National Health Service (NHS) and other health systems is recommended.

KW - Complementary and alternative medicine

KW - Clinical Neurology

KW - General Medicine

U2 - 10.1177/0964528420924042

DO - 10.1177/0964528420924042

M3 - Article

VL - 39

SP - 192

EP - 199

JO - Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society

JF - Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society

SN - 0964-5284

IS - 3

ER -