Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture with Western Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objectives: In the present study, we assessed the therapeutic qualities of the combination of acupuncture with Western medicine to determine further lines of clinical research. Methods: We searched English-language databases and Chinese-language databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to February 2020. Two reviewers performed a meta-analysis of the efficacy and toxicity of the use of acupuncture with Western medicine for RA measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS), rheumatoid factor (RF), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Results: In total, 9 RCTs involving 698 patients were included for analysis. VAS, ESR, CRP, and RF were all shown to favor the combination of acupuncture with Western medicine compared to Western medicine alone. ST36 (Zusanli), EX-UE9 (Baxie), Ll11 (Quchi), GB34 (Yanglingquan), TE14 (Jianliao) and TE4(Yangchi) were frequently used in 9 clinical trials. Conclusion: Treatment using acupuncture with Western medicine was associated with higher efficacy and lower risks than treatment with Western medicine alone. ST36 (Zusanli), EX-UE9 (Baxie), Ll11 (Quchi), GB34 (Yanglingquan), TE14 (Jianliao) and TE4 (Yangchi) were frequently used in treatment of RA and had been verified with effect in clinical practice.