Acupuncture-assisted embryo transfer techniques: Research frontiers and future directions

Table 3 Characteristics of included reviews and meta-analysis

Ref.	Number of studies (total sample)	Nature of acupuncture	Control	Time of acupuncture	Outcomes
Manheimer et al[17]	16 (4012)	TA/EA	No adjuvant treatment or sham acupuncture	Before and after ET	CPR/LBR
Wang et al[18]	7 (516)	MA/AA/TEAS/EA	No adjuvant treatment	During COH, during ET	CPR/ET
Gu et al[5]	31 (4450)	TA/EA/AA/TEAS/LA	No adjuvant treatment or sham acupuncture	During COH, during ET	CPR/BRP/OPR/MR
Zhu et al[19]	14 (1130)	TA/EA/TEAS	No adjuvant treatment or sham acupuncture	Before and after frozen-thawed embryo transfer	CPR/BRP/LBR/ET/endometrial pattern
Qian et al[20]	30 (6344)	TA/EA/LA/AA	No adjuvant treatment or sham acupuncture	During COH, during ET	BPR/CPR/LBR/OPR
Xie et al[21]	27 (6166)	MA/EA/AA/TA	No adjuvant treatment or sham acupuncture	Before and after ET	CPR/LBR
Smith et al[22]	20 (5130)	MA/EA/LA/TEAS/dry needling	No adjuvant treatment or sham acupuncture	Before and after ET	CPR/LBR/OPR/MR

AA: Auricular acupuncture; BRP: Biochemical pregnancy rate; CPR: Clinical pregnancy rate; COH: Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation; EA: Electrical acupuncture; ET: Endometrial thickness; LA: Laser acupuncture; LBR: Live birth rate; MA: Manual acupuncture; MR: Miscarriage rate; OPR: Ongoing pregnancy rate; TA: Traditional acupuncture; TEAS: Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation.