There is only one RCT on the use of acupuncture for fibromyalgia that was considered to be of high quality by Berman et al, the primary reviewer of fibromyalgia. This study of 70 patients found statistically significant benefits for acupuncture using several outcome measures such as pain relief. This study used electroacupuncture rather than the more traditional needling technique. More importantly, however, Deluze et al. only followed patients for three weeks. Studies of lower methodological quality include two other randomized studies and several other nonrandomized studies.
The reviews interpret the strength of this body of evidence somewhat differently. None of the reviews concluded that the evidence was sufficient to use acupuncture as a first line treatment, although two concluded that the evidence supported the use of acupuncture as adjunctive or second line treatment for fibromyalgia. Even though the study by Deluze et al. found a statistically significant benefit for acupuncture, it only followed patients for three weeks, which is not long enough to draw conclusions about health outcomes for patients with this long-term chronic condition. Longer term studies are necessary to determine the benefit of any treatment for fibromyalgia.
At this time, therefore, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that acupuncture has efficacy for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Two randomized controlled clinical trials with a follow-up of at least 13 weeks are currently underway and should provide more useful data about this treatment for fibromyalgia.