The effect of acupuncture in chronic intractable epilepsy

Seizure. 1999 May;8(3):170-4. doi: 10.1053/seiz.1999.0278.

Abstract

We examined the effect of acupuncture on epileptic seizures in humans in a controlled clinical setting. Treatment was administered by two Chinese professors of acupuncture. Effect was measured by change in seizure frequency. Twenty-nine patients with chronic intractable epilepsy completed the study. They were randomized in two groups; 15 were given classical acupuncture and 14 were given sham acupuncture. There was a reduction in seizure frequency in both groups, which did not reach a level of statistical significance. There was also an increase in the number of seizure-free weeks in both groups, which reached a level of significance in the sham group. Thus, we have not been able to prove a beneficial effect of acupuncture in chronic intractable epilepsy.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Acupuncture Points / classification*
  • Acupuncture Therapy / methods*
  • Adult
  • Chronic Disease
  • Electroencephalography
  • Epilepsy / diagnosis
  • Epilepsy / therapy*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional
  • Single-Blind Method
  • Statistics, Nonparametric