Quality of Evidence Supporting the Role of Acupuncture for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Table 2

Baseline characteristics of included reviews.

Studies	Country	Trials (subjects)	Experimental Intervention	Control Intervention	Quality assessment	Meta-analyses	Results summary
Guo et al. [19]	China	31 (3234)	AT	CM	Cochrane criteria	Yes	Acupuncture was an effective and safe therapy for IBS.
Zheng et al. [20]	China	41 (3440)	AT, AT + CM	Sham AT, CM	Cochrane criteria	Yes	The effect of acupuncture on IBS was better than that of CM, which could be used as an adjuvant therapy in clinical practice.
Yan et al. [21]	China	21 (1834)	AT + CHM	CM; CHM	Cochrane criteria	Yes	The combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine was effective and safe in the treatment of IBS.
Chao and Zhang [22]	China	6 (664)	AT	Sham AT, CM	Jadad	Yes	Acupuncture was significant in relieving the symptoms of IBS.
Manheimer et al. [23]	United States	17 (1806)	AT	Sham AT, CM	Cochrane criteria	Yes	The effect of acupuncture on IBS was better than that of CM, which could be used as an adjuvant therapy in clinical practice.
Fu and Jiang [24]	China	23 (1685)	AT	CM; AT + CM	Jadad	Yes	Acupuncture therapy was superior to conventional CM in the treatment of IBS.
Deng et al. [25]	China	17 (1333)	AT; AT + CM	CM; Sham AT + CM	Jadad	Yes	Acupuncture for IBS was superior to conventional treatment, which could improve the clinical symptoms and reduce the recurrence rate of patients.
Li et al. [26]	China	12 (715)	AT	CM	Cochrane criteria	Yes	The evidence of this study was not sufficient to prove that the efficacy of acupuncture was better than CM.
Pei et al. [27]	China	11 (969)	AT; AT + CM	CM; Sham AT + CM	Cochrane criteria	Yes	Acupuncture for IBS was better than the CM treatment.
Zhao et al. [28]	China	10 (810)	AT	CM	Jadad	Yes	The effect of acupuncture on IBS was superior to that of western medicine.

AT: acupuncture therapy; CHM: Chinese herbal medicine.