OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether acupuncture improves rates of pregnancy and live birth when used as an adjuvant treatment to embryo transfer in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Cochrane Central, Embase, Chinese Biomedical Database, hand searched abstracts, and reference lists.
OBJECTIVE: To review systematically the use of acupuncture in the management of subfertility. DESIGN: A computer search was performed via several English and Chinese databases to identify journals relevant to the subject. RESULT(S): The positive effect of acupuncture in the treatment of subfertility may be related to the central sympathetic inhibition by the endorphin system, the change in uterine blood flow and motility, and stress reduction.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To evaluate the impact of acupuncture on the outcome of in-vitro fertilization treatment using data from published randomized studies. The main outcome measure of interest is the clinical pregnancy rate. RECENT FINDINGS: Fourteen relevant trials including 2870 women were examined. Significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity were encountered among the studies.
The objectives of this systematic review were to determine the effectiveness of (a) acupuncture and (b) Chinese herbal medicine on the treatment of male and female subfertility by assisted reproductive technologies (ART). All reports from RCTs of acupuncture and/or Chinese herbal medicine in ART were obtained via searches through The Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Sub-fertility Group's Specialised Register of controlled trials, and other major databases.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the theoretical and methodologic rationales for the use of sham acupuncture controls in trials of adjuvant acupuncture for in vitro fertilization (IVF), and to identify the drawbacks of using a sham acupuncture control that may have its own effects on the pregnancy outcome. BACKGROUND: Acupuncture has typically been tested in trials that evaluate subjective, patient-reported outcomes such as pain. Ratings of pain and similar subjective states can be strongly influenced by respondents' prejudgments, preferences, and expectations about treatment benefits.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of acupuncture on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. PATIENT(S): Women undergoing IVF in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) who were evaluated for the effects of acupuncture on IVF outcomes. SETTING: Not applicable. INTERVENTION(S): The intervention groups used manual, electrical, and laser acupuncture techniques. The control groups consisted of no, sham, and placebo acupuncture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The major outcomes were clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) and live birth rate (LBR).
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is expensive, time consuming, and the most successful treatment of fertility; however, in general the cumulative chance of having a live birth with the treatment is still around 40%. Many couples still remain unsuccessful after several IVF attempts, causing deep impact on quality of life, and each failed cycle causing a financial burden. Several adjuvant therapies have been used along with IVF to increase the pregnancy rates for women with repeated implantation failure.
PURPOSE: Controversial results have been reported concerning the effect of acupuncture on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. The current review was conducted to systematically review published studies of the effects of acupuncture on IVF outcomes. METHODS: Women undergoing IVF in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were evaluated for the effects of acupuncture on IVF outcomes. The treatment groups involved traditional, electrical, laser, auricular, and other acupuncture techniques. The control groups consisted of no, sham, and placebo acupuncture.
Acupuncture in Medicine: Journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). METHODS: We searched a total of 15 databases through October 2015. The participants were women with PCOS (diagnosed using the Rotterdam criteria) undergoing IVF or ICSI.
Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of postweaning management of British crossbred heifers on growth and reproduction. In Exp. 1, 239 spring-born, crossbred heifers were stratified by weaning BW (234 ± 1 kg) and allotted randomly to 1 of 2 treatments. Treatments were fed at a rate equivalent to 1.14 kg/d while grazing dormant forage (6.5% CP and 80% NDF, DM basis) and were 1) 36% CP containing 36% RUP (36RUP) or 2) 36% CP containing 50% RUP (50RUP).
