Auricular acupuncture for treating tinnitus: A systematic review

Abstract Tinnitus affects around 10-15% of the adult population; its pathophysiology remains unknown, and it can negatively influence patients’ quality of life. This systematic review analyzes the available literature about the results of the treatment of tinnitus with auricular acupuncture. According to PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, a PubMed search was performed using the terms “acupuncture” and “tinnitus”. We evaluated all the articles published till January 2023. We excluded duplications of pre-existing data, and we included only English-published articles. One-hundred-sixty-seven scientific articles were found. One-hundred-and-ten were excluded due to the absence of the full text on PUBMED or in the main Italian medical libraries. Therefore, 57 articles have been considered, published from 1975 to 2023. All experimental studies were conducted on adult patients, mostly males. The number of included patients varied from 1 to 107. The number of acupuncture sessions ranged from 1 to 30. In conclusion, acupuncture may impact multiple processes responsible for chronic tinnitus. Treatments should include the stimulation of auricular concha and pretragal area and last longer than 10 sessions. Acupuncture does not seem to modify the tinnitus characteristics, but to improve patients’ stress conditions and quality of life.