Reply of the Authors

Abstract

We thank Dr. Shi and colleagues for their interest in our article. We agree that the proficiency of the acupuncturist is key in any study investigating the effects of acupuncture on a particular medical condition. We were happy to have collaborated with two highly trained, hospital-employed, licensed acupuncturists in our study. Both of our acupuncturists had over a decade of practice before joining our study. In fact, our lead acupuncturist completed advanced studies at the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China before her employment at Northwestern. Regarding our demographic information, we considered all factors that potentially could have been different between the “sham” and “true” arms and did not find any statistical difference. In our discussion section we acknowledged that the fixed protocol used in our study may have reduced the likelihood that the treatment was effective on an individual basis. We also acknowledged that our study was not consistent with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) principle, and we recommended future studies of adequate power and sample size using TCM. In regard to the length of time in needle placement, our 25-minute allocation was adapted from the study by Paulus et al. (1Paulus W.E. Zhang M. Strehler E. El-Danasouri I. Sterzik K. Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy.Fertil Steril. 2002; 77: 721-724Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (183) Google Scholar). During the planning of our study, we realized that we would be unable to adhere to the principles of TCM and consulted with our acupuncturists to develop the best protocol within the constraints of a controlled trial. Near the end of our study, recruitment of patients became increasingly difficult because many of our patients were seeking acupuncture and TCM before their initial clinic visit. With the growing interest in the field, future studies that explore more comprehensive TCM treatments on infertility will be met with great interest and will help shed more light on the topic. Acupuncture: when classical meets modernFertility and SterilityVol. 95Issue 7PreviewTo the Editor: Full-Text PDF