Analgesic Effect of Manual Acupuncture and Laser Acupuncture for Lateral Epicondylalgia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Lateral epicondylalgia is a common orthopedic disorder. In traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is often used for treating lateral epicondylalgia. Laser acupuncture, compared with manual acupuncture, has more advantages because it is painless, aseptic and safe. However, the analgesic effect of manual acupuncture and laser acupuncture on lateral epicondylalgia has rarely been explored. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the analgesic effect of laser acupuncture and manual acupuncture for the treatment of lateral epicondylalgia. We investigated studies published in the Medline, PubMed, and CINAHL databases from January 1980 to December 2013. This review included 9 randomized articles. Six of them examined manual acupuncture and the others focused on laser acupuncture. We analyzed the meta-analysis results regarding the analgesic effect of the treatment, and observed substantial differences in 4 articles related to manual acupuncture. Manual acupuncture is effective in short-term pain relief for the treatment of lateral epicondylalgia; however, its long-term analgesic effect is unremarkable. A suitable acupuncture point and depth can be used to treat lateral epicondylalgia. Manual acupuncture applied on lateral epicondylalgia produced stronger evidence of an analgesic effect than did laser acupuncture, and further study on the analgesic effect of laser acupuncture is required.