| | Study ID | Intervention group | Side effects or adverse events |
| | Bao et al. 2013 [16] | CV4, CV6, CV12, bilateral LI4, MH6, GB34, ST36, KI3, BL65 | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Crew et al. 2010 [15] | Standard TCM point prescription (not given) | Three out of 38 patients felt moderately painful during the acupuncture treatment.
No other adverse events were reported. | | Greenlee et al. 2016 [18] | GB34, ST37, LI4, LI10, L3, L5, C5, C7 | One patient showed adverse event with discomfort, minor swelling, and bruising on an acupuncture site after needle withdrawal. | | He 2017 [13] | CV12, bilateral LV13, CV6, ST25, PC6, ST36 | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Hershman et al. 2018 [21] | Standards for reporting of controlled trials in acupuncture | 47% and 25% patients were experiencing grade 1 bruising in the true and sham acupuncture group.
One patient from each group showed grade 2 presyncope once. | | Li 2017 [20] | CV6, CV4, bilateral ST36, SP6, ST25, LV3, PC6 | 80% of the patients felt no to mild pain during the acupuncture. No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Liu 2014 [17] | CV12, CV10, CV6, CV4, bilateral ST25, SP15, ST24 | One out of 140 patients showed presyncope after acupuncture and recovered after treatment. No other significant adverse events were reported. | | Lu et al. 2020 [26] | Yin tang, LI11, TW5, Baxie, SP9, ST36, SP6, K3, LR3, Qiduan | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. One patient-reported grade 1 pruritus in the feet and one reported grade 2 joint pain. | | Mao et al. 2014 [12] | 4 local acupoints around the pain joint (not provided) | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Quinlan-Woodward et al. 2016 [19] | Standard TCM point prescription (not given) | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Shen et al. 2000 [14] | PC6, ST36 | One patient experienced shock sensation from needle stimulator apparatus once. Another patient had aggravated tingling sensation on residual peripheral neuropathy following each needling procedure. No other significant adverse events were reported. | | Shi 2019 [24] | GV20, GV4, GV3, GV2, CV12, CV4, CV6, CV3, | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Tong et al. 2018 [22] | DU20, EX-HN1, KI3, DU24, KI4, GB39, ST36 | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Zhang 2018 [23] | DU20, EM1, D24, PC6, HT7, GB20, CV17, CV12, CV6 | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Zhang 2019 [25] | SP10, CV17, CV12, CV6, DU20, DU16, bilateral ST36, BI15, BI45, HT5, KD6 | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. | | Zhang et al. 2020 [27] | HT7, LI4, TE5, ST36, ST40, CV12, CV4, GV26, bilateral SP6 | No significant adverse events were reported in both arms. |
|
|
