Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy for angina pectoris.METHODS:Randomized controlled trials(RCTs) concerned with acupuncture treatment of angina pectoris were identified by searching Academic Source Premier,MEDLINE,Science Citation Index Expanded,and three Chinese databases(China biology medicine database,China national knowledge infrastructure,and VIP database for Chinese technical periodicals).The valid data were extracted in accordance with our inclusion and exclusion criteria.The main outcomes of the included studies were synthesized using Revman 5.1.RESULTS:Twenty-one articles on 16 individual studies were included and evaluated as having high or moderate risk of bias according to the standards of the Cochrane Collaboration.Meta-analysis indicated that acupuncture combined with conventional drugs(ACCD) was superior to conventional drugs alone in reducing the incidence of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) [OR=0.18,95%CI(0.04,0.84),P=0.03].Moreover,ACCD was superior to conventional drugs in the relief of angina symptoms [OR=4.23,95%CI(2.73,6.56),P< 0.00001].However,the time to onset was significantly longer for acupuncture treatment than for conventional treatment alone [WMD=2.43,95%CI(1.63,3.23),P

Key words: Acupuncture therapy, Randomized controlled trial, Efficacy, Review, Meta-analysis