Acupuncture for Hot Flashes: A Literature Review of Randomized Controlled Trials Conducted in the Last 10 Years

Objective: To conduct a literature review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the use of acupuncture for hot flashes to analyze the characteristics of each study, draw a conclusion on the advantages and disadvantages of previous studies and provide the suggestions for future studies on the same topic. Methods: We searched English and Chinese databases for the literature published from 2009 to 2019 restricted in the English and Chinese language, and we included RCT using acupuncture as the main observational intervention for hot flashes by the criteria. Results: Twenty studies met our eligibility criteria. All the studies were of high quality and confirmed the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for hot flashes, although they used different controlled interventions. The acupuncture treatment and theory of acupoints selection were relatively consistent among the studies, and they had close trial designs. Conclusions: These RCTs on acupuncture were nonuniform, which made the studies on this topic lack coherence, leading to unsatisfactory research outcomes. Therefore, more professional research teams are needed to perform studies on a definite topic and draw a specific conclusion to previous studies before the next step is taken.