THE EFFECT OF ACUPUNCTURE ON NONALLERGIC RHINITIS - A CONTROLLED PILOT-STUDY

The purpose of this pilot project was to evaluate the immediate effect s of real acupuncture compared with two placebo controls (sham acupunc ture and mock transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) in the trea tment of nonallergic rhinitis patients. These three treatments were gi ven in a nonrandomized order to the same patients at weekly intervals. Real acupuncture showed an improvement in nasal airways resistance af ter treatment in 9 of 13 patients, sham acupuncture in 2 of 9, and moc k transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in 3 of 10 patients. Wit h the exception of improvement in a minimal cross-sectional area (rnea sured by acoustic rhinometry) in the real acupuncture group following treatment, the outcome was not statistically significant This pilot st udy raised a number of issues related to the effects of acupuncture in nonallergic rhinitis that must be addressed by a study involving more patients in which the order of treatment is randomized and the two pl acebo control treatments are evaluated in relation to their credibilit y.