ABSTRACT
It has been assumed in the past that acupuncture poses no risk, or very little risk, to the patient, and being a natural and holistic therapy is safer than conventional medicine and drug therapy (MacPherson, 1999). However, with its growth in popularity in Western society came the need for evidence of its safety, and with that came reports of adverse events from around the world (Rampes and James, 1995; Ernst and White, 1997, 1999; Peuker and Filler, 1997). A review by Rampes and James (1995), after a search of two databases (Medline and AMED), identified only 216 instances of serious complications worldwide over a 20-year period. The authors concluded that considering that 3% of the adult population of the UK were found to have consulted acupuncturists in 1984, that is, approximately 1.7 million people (Fulder, 1988), these figures are reassuring, particularly as the growth in the number of acupuncturists in the UK in the past two years has been substantial (see Appendix III). The complications generally fall into three main areas, physical injuries, infections and other adverse reactions.
