The National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement on Acupuncture

NIH Consensus statements are prepared by a non-advocate, non-Federal panel of experts, based on presentations by investigators working in areas relevant to the consensus. On November 5, 1997 the panel that convened to consider acupuncture produced the following statement: “Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States. While there have been many studies of its potential usefulness, many of these studies provide equivocal results because of design, sample size, and other factors. The issue is further complicated by inherent difficulties in the use of appropriate controls, such as placebos and sham acupuncture groups. However, promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult post-operative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in post-operative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofacial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma where acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.”

For more information on the statement, including the full text, program and abstracts from the meeting, bibliography and related publications and all materials ordering information, go to: NIH Consensus Development Program (Vol. 15 no. 5)

"Clinical trials and studies on mechanisms should help bring important information on acupuncture and how it works to the public, health care providers, and policymakers." — Dr. Richard Nahin

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