According to the findings of a recent study, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) may be a potential choice for parturients in terms of analgesic efficacy and safety for both mothers and neonates. Investigators assessed the safety and effectiveness of TEAS and epidural analgesia as estimated by visual analog scale (VAS) score, natural delivery failure rate, Apgar scores, and side effects.

Clinical trials.gov and four electronic databases (Cochrane CENTRAL, Web of Science, EMBASE, PubMed) were searched for pertinent randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The analysis employed a random effects model, and results were assessed using STATA, R, and ADDIS software as standard mean differences (SMD), odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

In this network meta-analysis, 10 RCTs and 1214 parturients were detected via screening. Three RCTs examined epidural analgesia and controls, one examined TEAS and epidural analgesia, and six RCTs examined TEAS and controls. Among the four outcomes, no heterogeneity was identified. SMD, OR, and CI results comparing interventions and control treatments did not considerably differ.

Under specific conditions, TEAS illustrated the potential for superior results in the areas of analgesic effectiveness and safety. TEAS had the highest surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) score, thus depicting that the possible safer treatment for pregnant women was TEAS. For parturients and neonates, TEAS may be a suitable, non-invasive, simple, and non-pharmacological analgesic intervention.