Influencia de la acupuntura sobre el tratamiento de lesiones deportivas y el rendimiento atlético: una revisión integradora

Introduction

The development of new strategies and work tools to optimize recovery time after an injury or to increase athletes’ sports performance has led to the exploration of traditional Chinese medicine techniques such as acupuncture.

Objective

To analyse the effect of acupuncture on the treatment of sports injuries and the improvement of athletic performance.

Design

A systematic integrative review based on PRISMA.

Data sources

Articles available in the databases PubMed/MEDLINE, PEDro and The AcuTrials®Database were reviewed for retrieval of records. The search was developed using Boolean search algorithms such as “acupuncture therapy” OR “Acupuncture” AND “sports” NOT disease NOT health y “acupuncture” AND “sports” OR “injuries”, although related free language terms were also used.

Selection of studies

a) randomized clinical trials, case studies, narrative reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses - the latter must comply with the PRISMA, COCHRANE statement or be registered in PROSPERO; b) studies published between 2009 and 2019; c) publications written in English and Spanish; d) full text available, and e) publications that evaluated the effect of acupuncture on musculoskeletal injuries and sports performance.

Results

With a Price index of 61.1%, 18 articles published in international journals were retrieved, of which eight (44.4%) were randomized clinical trials; four (22.2%) were narrative reviews; five (27.7%) were systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses; and one (5.55%) was a case study. There is evidence for acupuncture as an effective treatment for sports injuries with components of inflammation and pain, mainly in the lower extremities, probably due to the analgesic effect and improved blood flow. However, although the traditional acupuncture protocol may be effective in improving muscle strength/power, more research is required regarding the effect on low-moderate intensity exercise.

Conclusions

Acupuncture is a tool with potential to improve physiological and psychological variables related to injury treatment and sports performance; however, more standardized research is required.