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A randomized controlled trial of acupuncture for initiation of labor in nulliparous women

2006; Informa; Volume: 19; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14767050600730740

1476-7058

Terry C. Harper, Remy R Coeytaux, Wunian Chen, Kathryn Campbell, Jay S. Kaufman, Kenneth J. Moise, John M. Thorp,

Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation

Methods. Nulliparous women at 39 4/7 weeks or greater with a singleton gestation and Bishop score of less than 7 were randomized to usual medical care (control group) versus usual care and three outpatient acupuncture treatments (acupuncture group). Each treatment consisted of eight needles applied to bilateral points LI4, SP6, UB31, and UB32. The primary outcome was time elapsed from the time of randomization to delivery. Secondary outcomes included rates of cesarean section and induction of labor. Medical records were abstracted for maternal demographic, medical, and delivery outcome data. A priori sample size calculation revealed that 56 women were required to detect a 72-hour difference in delivery time with a power of 83% and an alpha of 0.05. Student's t-test, Chi-square, and Kaplan–Meier statistics were used to compare groups.