"Acupuncture is a safe and effective alternative to pain medications for some emergency room patients a new study reports. While acupuncture is widely used by practitioners in community settings for treating pain it is rarely used in hospital emergency departments said study lead investigator Marc Cohen. He is a professor in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT University in Melbourne Australia. The study  billed as the worlds largest randomized controlled trial of acupuncture in the emergency department  included  patients.  The study participants were seen at four Australian emergency departments for acute low back pain migraines or ankle sprains. Patients who said their level of pain was at least  on a point scale received one of three treatments acupuncture alone acupuncture with painkillers or painkillers alone. One hour after treatment less than  percent of all patients had significant pain reduction meaning at least a point decline on the point scale. More than  percent still had a pain rating of at least  the findings showed. But two days later most patients were satisfied. Overall nearly  percent of acupunctureonly patients said they would probably or definitely repeat their treatment compared with about  percent in the combined group and  percent who took painkillers alone. Emergency nurses and doctors need a variety of painrelieving options when treating patients given the concerns around opioids such as morphine which carry the risk of addiction when used longterm Cohen said in a university news release. The study results suggest acupuncture would be especially beneficial for patients who cant use standard painrelieving drugs because of other medical conditions Cohen added. But he noted that more research is needed because some patients remained in pain no matter what treatment they received.  The study was published June  in the Medical Journal of Australia. More information The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more on acupuncture httpsnccih.nih.govhealthacupuncture. SOURCE RMIT University news release June"