Meta-analysis of Acustimulation Effects on Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnant Women

Results: Before the treatment, 100% of the women (13 trials, n 1615 women) were nauseated, but and 96.6% (1599/1655) reported vomiting. After the treatment, compared with the controls, AS (all modalities combined) reduced the proportion of nausea (RR 0.47, 95% CI: 0.35-0.62, P .0001) and vomiting (RR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.51-0.68, P .0001). Acupressure methods applied by finger pressure or wristband reduced NVP. The ETS method was also effective in reducing NVP. However, the acupuncture method did not show effects on reducing NVP. There was a placebo effect when compared with controls in reducing nausea (three trials, RR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.39-1.02, P .0479) and vomiting (five trials, RR 0.67, 95% CI: 0.50-0.91, P .0084). Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrates that acupressure and ETS had greater impact than the acupuncture methods in the treatment of NVP. However, the number of acupuncture trials was limited for pregnant women, perhaps because it is impossible to self-administer the acupuncture and thus inconvenient for women experiencing NVP as chronic symptoms.