[Laser needle acupuncture in women with dysmenorrhoea: a randomised controlled double blind pilot trial]

Dysmenorrhoea is a common gynaecological disorder.It is treated symptomatically if it is not caused by any underlying disease. Acupuncture is successfully used for menstrual disorders but is associated with certain side effects such as pain. Laser needle acupuncture is a new, non-invasive procedure that might mimic the effects of acupuncture.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the effect of active laser needle acupuncture is superior to the effect of placebo laser needle acupuncture in women with dysmenorrhoea.

Women aged 18-50 years and with a minimum menstrual pain of 4 out of 10 points on a visual analogue scale (VAS) were included in this randomised double blind trial and treated with laser needle acupuncture (Laserneedle Computer-System). Every woman was treated with the same 8 acupuncture points (SP6, LV3 and LI4 bilateral; CV3 and ST36 on the right) in 8 sessions of 20 min each, over a period of 3 menstrual cycles. The primary endpoint was successful pain reduction, defined as a 50% reduction of the mean menstrual pain between baseline and end of the study (calculated from those 2 menstrual days with the worst pain levels on the VAS). We compared real laser acupuncture with placebo laser acupuncture (no laser activity).

48 women, mean age 29.6 +/- 7.5 years, were included in the study (30 women in the placebo group, 18 in the verum group). In the real acupuncture group, the success rate was 16.7% (3/18), in the placebo group 20% (6/30).

We could not find a significant advantage of laser needle acupuncture compared to placebo laser needle acupuncture treatment. Further investigations are recommended because laser needle treatment is non-invasive and allows double blind acupuncture studies.