Table 1 Characteristics of included studies (manual acupuncture vs. artificial tears)
From: Optimizing acupuncture treatment for dry eye syndrome: a systematic review
First author | Year | Site | Sample sizea | Age | Gender (M/F) | Regime (acupoints) | Duration (min) | Frequency (per week) | Total sessions | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nepp [12] | 1998 | Austria | 52 (30/22) | N/A | N/A | GB1, BL2, ST5, EX-HN2, LI4, SI3, LI3, KI6, TE5 | 30 | 1 | 10 | ST, BUT, drop frequency |
He [13] | 2004 | China | 32 (16/16) | 52 | 12/20 | Pattern identification was done by practitioner (ST2, LI20, LI11, LI4, SP6 OR ST2, SP10, SP9, SP6, ST36, KI6) | 20–25 | 3–4 (every other day) | 30 | ST, BUT, CFS |
Wang [14] | 2005 | China | 45((A)15, (B)15/15) | 51.7 | 17/28 | (A) Pattern identification was done by practitioner (LI11, LI4 SP6, KI3, ST2, LI20 or ST2, SP10, SP9, ST36, SP6, ST40) (B) BL2, TE23, GB14, ST1 | 20–25 | 3–4 (every other day) | 20 | ST, BUT, CFS, RR |
Tseng [15] | 2006 | Taiwan | 26 (17/9) | 48.9 | 12/14 | Ex-HN5, TE23, GB14, ST2, SP6 | 20 | 2 | 16 | ST, BUT, Number of application of artificial tears |
Zhang [16] | 2009 | China | 60 (30/30) | 44 | 23/37 | ST1, LR3, KI3 | 20 | N/A | N/A | ST, BUT, total symptoms |
Gong [17] | 2010 | China | 42 (20/22) | 44.8 | 11/33 | BL1, BL2, GB14, SJ23, Ex-HN5, ST2, LI4, LR3, GB37, SP6, GB20 | 20 | 3 (every other day) | 10 | ST, BUT, RBS recording, total score |
Gao [18] | 2010 | China | 56 (28/28) | 48.9 | 3/53 | BL1, BL2, TE23, GB1,Ex-HN5 | 30 | 6 | 24 | ST, BUT, total score |
Shi [19] | 2012 | China | 68 (33/35) | 49.5 | 30/38 | Ex-HN1, BL1, ST1, Ex-HN5, TE23, LI4, ST36 | 25 | 3 | 9 | ST, BUT, tear lactoferrin concentration |
Kim [20] | 2012 | Korea | 150 (75/75) | 42 | 41/109 | BL2, GB14, TE23, Ex-HN5, ST1, GB20, LI4 LI11, GV23 | 20 | 3 | 12 | OSDI, VAS, BUT, ST, MYMOP-2 |
Nan [21] | 2014 | China | 60 (30/30) | 48.1 | 25/35 | Eye acupuncture (liver/gallbladder area, kidney area, spleen stomach area, upper jiao area) | 15–20 | 7 | 20 | ST, BUT, total score |
Zhang [22] | 2015 | China | 80 (40/40) | 53 | 28/52 | Hair needle therapy (superior and inferior lacrimal puncta) | 10 | 3–4 (every other day) | 7 | ST, BUT, CFS, total score |
NI [23] | 2016 | China | 93((A)30, (B)32/31) | 33.3 | 36/57 | (A) BL1, Ex-HN7, SP6, KI3, GV26 (B) BL1, Ex-HN7, SP6, KI3 | 20 | 3 | 9 | ST BUT, subjective symptom score |
Chao [24] | 2016 | China | 53((A)18, (B)19/16) | 48.9 | 15/38 | (A), (B) GB20, Ex-HN5, BL2, ST2, LR3, KI3, SP6, SP6, ST36, ST37 (A) applied a qi-absorption needling technique to the GB20 | 30 | 7 | 28 | ST, BUT, VAS, CFS total score |
Liu [25] | 2017 | China | 28 (14/14) | 60.7 | 0/28 | BL2, BL3, TE23, Ex-HN5, ST2, LI4, GB20, GV20, ST1 | 30 | 3 | 24 | ST, BUT, OSDI, questionnaire, protein analysis |