| Objectice To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP). Methods Six Chinese and English databases were searched electronically, and the retrieval date was up to November 2017. According to the Cochrane Hand book 5.3, the quality of the research included in this study was assessed. Meta-analyses were performed using Revman 5.3 Software. Results A total of 10 articles were included, including 710 patients, with 354 cases in the trial group and 356 cases in the control group. Meta-analyses showed that: ①Acupuncture compared with conventional therapy (CT) [RR=1.36, 95% CI (1.18, 1.57), Z=4.34, P<0.0001], Acupuncture + CT compared with CT [RR=1.31, 95% CI (1.14, 1.50), Z=3.77, P=0.0002], indicating that Acupuncture and Acupuncture + CT both could improve clinic efficiency; ②Acupuncture compared with CT [MD=-2.36, 95% CI (–4.20, –0.53), Z=2.53, P=0.01], Acupuncture + CT compared with CT [MD=–1.61, 95% CI (–2.06, –1.16), Z=7.01, P<0.00001], indicating that both Acupuncture and Acupuncture + CT all could reduce pain degree. Conclusion Compared with conventional treatment alone, acupuncture or acupuncture combined with conventional therapy can improve the effective rate and pain symptoms. It is worthy of clinical application. However, in view of the limitations of the included literature, there is a need for more high-quality, large sample, multicenter, well-designed randomized controlled trials in future research, to further support and enhance the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for postmenopausal osteoporosis. |