The commonly used terms "sham acupuncture" and "placebo acupuncture" in clinical acupuncture research is compared and analyzed in this article. In terms of their respective characteristics, sham acupuncture has a wider scope, including various types of acupoints, needle insertion at non-acupoint or non-insertion at acupoints, while placebo acupuncture mainly focuses on non-insertion at acupoints. Sham acupuncture mainly emphasizes the appearance similarity to real acupuncture, while placebo acupuncture emphasizes both similarity in appearance and the absence of therapeutic effects. Properly distinguishing and applying sham acupuncture and placebo acupuncture can help standardize their usage in terminology. Considering the difficulty in setting up qualified placebo acupuncture, it is suggested that researchers use the term "sham acupuncture" to describe the acupuncture control methods used in clinical research.
对针刺临床研究中常用术语假针刺和安慰针刺进行对比分析。在设置特点上，假针刺涵盖范围更广，包括各种穴位、非穴位刺入或非刺入的针刺对照方式，而安慰针刺则以穴位非刺入为主；假针刺主要强调与真针刺在外观上的相似性，安慰针刺则既强调外观相似性，又强调无治疗效应。正确区分与合理应用假针刺与安慰针刺有助于规范术语使用，考虑到较难设置合格的安慰针刺，建议研究者在临床研究中采用假针刺来描述所设置的针刺对照方式。.
Keywords: blinding; clinical trials; control; placebo acupuncture; sham acupuncture.