• Caroline de Castro Moura, ChavesErika de Cássia LopesECLhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-2346-5359Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Escola de Enfermagem, Alfenas, MG, Brasil., Ana Carolina Lima Ramos Cardoso, Denismar Alves Nogueira, Cissa Azevedo, and ChiancaTânia Couto MachadoTCMhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-8313-2791Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Enfermagem, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil..
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Enfermagem, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
• Rev Esc Enferm USP. 2019 Aug 19; 53: e03461.

ObjectiveTo investigate randomized clinical trials on the action of auricular acupuncture for chronic back pain in adults, and to identify the most commonly used outcomes for assessing this condition, the protocol used for applying the intervention, and the efficacy of the therapy on pain intensity.MethodA systematic review and a metanalysis were carried out between June 2017 and May 2018, based on the PubMed, CINAHL, PEDro, Embase, Scopus, and the Virtual Health Library databases. Reference lists of systematic reviews were also explored.Results427 studies were located, 15 included in the qualitative analysis, and seven in the quantitative analysis. Auricular acupuncture led to positive results in 80% of the studies. The most commonly used outcomes were pain intensity and quality, medication consumption, physical disability, and quality of life. There is a lack of protocol standardization for auricular acupuncture for chronic back pain. The metanalysis results showed that auricular acupuncture was effective in reducing pain intensity scores (p=0.038).ConclusionAuricular acupuncture is a promising practice for the treatment of chronic back pain in adults.

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