Acupuncture and Other Acupoint Stimulation Techniques for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Scoping Review of Clinical Applications

This scoping review aims to systematically map the clinical applications of acupuncture and other acupoint stimulation techniques for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We will include human clinical studies (including randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, and pilot studies) that report standardized quantitative outcome measures for PTSD symptoms (e.g., CAPS, PCL-5, DTS). The review will categorize various stimulation modalities by their technical characteristics (mechanical: body acupuncture/acupressure; electrical: electroacupuncture; thermal: moxibustion) and summarize key clinical protocols (e.g., acupoint selection, treatment frequency/duration, monotherapy vs. adjunctive therapy). Additionally, we will synthesize the feasibility and efficacy profiles of these techniques to identify critical knowledge gaps (e.g., inconsistent operational standards, lack of large-scale multicenter studies) and inform evidence-based clinical practice in psychiatric and complementary medicine settings.