A prospective randomized placebo-controlled study of the effect of acupuncture in infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia

Stefan Dieterle; Chunfang Li; Robert Greb; Felix Bartzsch; Wolfgang Hatzmann; Dongmei Huang

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.02.041

A prospective randomized placebo-controlled study of the effect of acupuncture in infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia

Fertil Steril. 2009 Oct;92(4):1340-1343. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.02.041. Epub 2009 Apr 25.

Authors

Stefan Dieterle¹, Chunfang Li², Robert Greb³, Felix Bartzsch⁴, Wolfgang Hatzmann⁴, Dongmei Huang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Dortmund, Germany; Infertility Center Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany. Electronic address: dieterle@ivf-dortmund.de.
² Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Dortmund, Germany; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
³ Infertility Center Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.
⁴ Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Dortmund, Germany.
⁵ Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Dortmund, Germany; Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 19394002
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.02.041

Abstract

In this first prospective, randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study, 28 infertile patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia received acupuncture according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and 29 infertile patients received placebo acupuncture. A significantly higher percentage of motile sperm (World Health Organization categories A-C), but no effect on sperm concentration, was found after acupuncture compared with placebo acupuncture.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Acupuncture Therapy* / methods
Asthenozoospermia / therapy*
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Infertility / therapy
Male
Medicine, Chinese Traditional / methods
Placebos
Pregnancy
Single-Blind Method
Sperm Count
Sperm Motility / physiology
Treatment Outcome

Substances

Placebos