Efficacy and safety of acupuncture in slowing visual field loss in normal-tension glaucoma: A 24-week randomized...

Normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) is a progressive optic neuropathy for which effective treatment strategies remain limited. We previously demonstrated that short-term (2-week) acupuncture can reduce intraocular pressure (IOP). In this study, we investigated the long-term efficacy and safety of acupuncture on visual function and structural parameters in NTG patients.

In this 24-week randomized controlled trial, 40 patients with NTG received once-weekly acupuncture at the Jingming (BL1) and Qiuhou (EX-HN7) acupoints (n = 20) or sham acupuncture with Vaccaria seeds (Wang-Bu-Liu-Xing) (n = 20) at the same locations.

At 24 weeks, the true acupuncture group significantly improved their best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from baseline in both the right (p = 0.0102) and left (p = 0.0128) eyes, increased retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in both eyes (right: p = 0.0477; left: p = 0.0208), and reduced IOP (right: p = 0.0430; left: p = 0.0401). No such improvements were observed with sham acupuncture. The rate of visual field deterioration was also significantly slower with true acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture (p < 0.05 for both eyes). No adverse treatment-related events were reported.

This is the first clinical trial to demonstrate that long-term acupuncture may effectively preserve both structural and functional visual parameters in patients with NTG, suggesting a potential neuroprotective effect of acupuncture and supporting its role as a promising adjunctive therapy. Further validation is warranted with larger, double-blind, multicenter trials.