Manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture and usual care for the prevention of primary dysmenorrhea (PD): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a leading cause of dysmenorrhea among adolescent girls. Manual acupuncture may be considered as an effective treatment for PD, but high-quality evidence remains limited. This trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the prevention of PD as compared with sham acupuncture and usual care.

Methods/design

This is a three-arm, randomized, controlled clinical trial in which the patients, assessors, and statisticians will be blinded. A total of 300 acupuncture-naive patients who were diagnosed as PD will be randomly allocated to the verum acupuncture, sham acupuncture, or usual care groups in a 2:2:1 ratio. Patients in the verum acupuncture group will receive manual acupuncture at specific acupuncture points with penet

SUBMITTER: Yu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7525957 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature