A systematic review and meta-analysis depicted that acupuncture effectively mitigates postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) symptoms, ameliorates dyspepsia-related issues, and enhances the overall quality of life for patients. Ganchen Xiao et al. sought to establish the practical importance of acupuncture in managing PDS. Only randomized controlled trials were selected for inclusion from the subsequent databases: Clinical Trial, Web of Science, CNKI, Medline, and Cochrane Central.

The risk of bias in the incorporated studies was evaluated utilizing Revman 5.4.1 (Revman 2020), with all 12 studies encompassed in the analysis being classified as exhibiting minimal risk of bias.

Data analysis, involving sensitivity analysis and a test for publication bias, was performed using Stata 16.1. The Cochrane tool was employed for assessing each study's quality. The major endpoints encompassed the occurrence of side effects, nepean dyspepsia index (NDI) score, hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) score, symptom index of dyspepsia (SID) score, and the overall therapeutic rate.

In the pursuit of investigating the therapeutic impact of acupuncture on PDS, this research initially identified 1532 relevant studies. After meticulous evaluation of their abstracts, titles, and complete texts, a final set of 12 studies involving 1113 subjects was incorporated. The subsequent data analysis conclusively demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture in treating PDS and enhancing the overall quality of life for patients. The impact of acupuncture on PDS was assessed across five dimensions: the overall therapeutic rate, SID, HADS, NDI, and potential side effects, with the overall therapeutic rate serving as the primary endpoint metric.

The findings from statistical analysis demonstrated a notable and meaningful impact of acupuncture in treating PDS. To conclude, acupuncture exhibits a profound therapeutic influence on PDS. Furthermore, considering potential bias in the encompassed studies, there is a necessity for high-quality research to validate any potential side effects associated with acupuncture treatment.