Efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy for chronic spontaneous urticaria: a network meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials.

What was studied

This review looked at acupuncture-based care for chronic spontaneous urticaria. This is a skin problem that can harm quality of life. The team searched for randomized trials up to 31 July 2025. They pooled trials with 7,746 people in total. Care types included acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping and autohemotherapy. A network method let them rank all these care types together.

What they found

Acupuncture plus autohemotherapy ranked top for overall effect. Moxibustion ranked top for better quality of life scores. Acupuncture plus moxibustion ranked top for easing itch. For the number of welts, most comparisons showed no clear gap. No acupuncture type did clearly better than antihistamines for welts. Acupuncture plus cupping ranked top for fewer side effects and relapses.

What it means for patients

The authors say acupuncture care showed good effect and safety here. They say the choice of care should fit each person's symptoms. The person's immune profile should also count in the choice. So should how well the person tolerates each care type. Some mixed care types ranked top for changes in immune markers, like IgE.

Why it is not certain yet

The authors say these results should be read with caution. They note the studies had limits, but the abstract gives few details. Larger trials of higher quality are needed to check the findings. A review can only be as good as the studies in it.

Source

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy for chronic spontaneous urticaria: a network meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials.

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