Acupuncture for Age-related Macular Degeneration

EVIDENCE No reports of acupuncture treatment for age-related macular degeneration were identified in an English language search of the MEDLINE database. An Internet search identified reports published in a journal that is not indexed in MEDLINE. These reports were of two small case series, one including 10 patients seen at a single practice, and one with 108 patients seen at a single practice. There have been no randomized controlled double-masked study that have examined the use of acupuncture for AMD in the English language peer-reviewed scientific literature. Other available treatments for AMD (thermal laser photocoagulation, photodynamic therapy and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents) have all been validated through randomized controlled clinical trials (level I evidence). Longer-term studies with larger samples of patients and adequate sham control groups to compare with needle acupuncture are needed to validate the results of these two small, uncontrolled studies.