SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Clinical and Translational Cardiovascular Medicine
Auriculotherapy for the intervention effect of chronic heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
- 2Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
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Background: Auriculotherapy is a complementary therapy that improves quality of life in various diseases; however, its clinical application in the treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF) remains limited, partly because standardized efficacy evaluation indicators are lacking. Methods: Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on CHF were systematically searched from database inception to November 2025. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, extracted data, and assessed study quality; disagreements were resolved by consensus with a third reviewer. Meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.4. Results: A total of 24 studies involving 2,387 patients were included in the study. The results of meta-analysis demonstrated that auriculotherapy combined with conventional treatment could improve the effective rate of cardiac function improvement (OR = 3.92, 95% CI: 2.86-5.38, P < 0.00001), increase left ventricular ejection fraction (MD = 4.07, 95% CI: 3.57-4.58, P < 0.00001), reduce left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (MD = -4.27, 95% CI: -4.98 to -3.56, P < 0.00001), and prolong the 6-minute walking test distance (MD = 65.11, 9 5% CI: 62.55-67.68, P<0.00001), while reducing the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire score (MD = -7.29, 95% CI: -8.52 to -6.06, P < 0.00 001). The incidence of adverse reactions didn't differ significantly between groups (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.27-1.10, P = 0.09). Conclusion: The available evidence suggests that auriculotherapy is a safe adjunctive therapy for CHF that can improve the overall clinical effective rate, enhance cardiac function, and improve exercise capacity and quality of life.
Keywords: Auriculotherapy, chronic heart failure, Complementary therapy, Meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, Systematic review
Received: 15 Aug 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Luo, WANG and WEN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoyan WEN
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