Photo Credit: YanC

For patients with opioid use disorder receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), eight weeks of acupuncture is superior to sham acupuncture for reducing methadone dose and opioid craving, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study authors examined the efficacy of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture on methadone dose reduction in a multicenter, randomized controlled trial conducted in six MMT clinics. Participants were aged 65 years or younger with opioid use disorder, had been using MMT for at least six weeks, and were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture or sham acupuncture three times per week for eight weeks (60 and 58 participants, respectively). The researchers found that more patients reduced their methadone dose 20% or more with acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture at week 8 (62% vs 29%). In addition, compared with sham acupuncture, acupuncture was more effective for reducing opioid craving, with a mean difference of −11.7 mm on the visual analog scale.