Acupuncture Injection for Dysmenorrhea

Acupuncture Injection for Dysmenorrhea

Painful menstruation, or  dysmenorrhea, is a major cause of activity restriction and absences from school and work among young women. Traditional pharmaceuticals used to treat painful menstruation are not effective for all women and have side effects that limit their use. Studies in China and other countries have shown beneficial effects for use of vitamin K1 as an acupoint treatment, but the acceptability of this treatment to women in the United States has been unknown. A new study was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of acupuncture point injection of vitamin K1 as an alternative treatment for primary dysmenorrhea among US women.

The study was designed as a pilot study with a blinded, randomized, crossover trial. Fourteen women 18 to 25 years of age who had been diagnosed with primary dysmenorrhea in the San Francisco Bay Area participated and finished the study. They were randomized into 2 groups to receive bilateral injections of vitamin K1 in the Spleen-6 (SP-6) acupuncture point at the start of menstruation and then, following a 2-month washout period, saline in a nonacupuncture point at the start of menstruation. One group received the vitamin K1 injection first, while the other group received the saline injection first. Menstrual pain intensity was measured using a 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS), before and after injections. The results  showed that women had an average 2.5-point decrease in pain after a vitamin K1 injection in the SP-6 acupoint (P < .001), as compared with a 1.8-point decrease after a saline injection (P < .001). Change scores for vitamin K1, as compared with a saline injection, approached statistical significance (P < .10). Intensity and duration of menstrual symptoms, as measured by the Cox retrospective symptom scale, also decreased following injections. After participating, 94% of the women remained agreeable to receiving the injection therapy, and 77% reported they would come every month were the treatment available. The research findings suggested high acceptability for an acupuncture point injection of vitamin K1 as treatment for primary dysmenorrhea among young women in San Francisco. Pain decreased with both treatments, with a trend toward greater pain reduction for the vitamin K1/SP-6 injection. These findings are consistent with outcomes from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in Shanghai, China, where the protocol was developed.

To read the full research report, click here.