Pain is a global problem and has been found sensitive to acupuncture. A large number of existing and newly published studies have demonstrated the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture(EA) in complete Freund's adjuvant(CFA) rat model, necessitating a new and comprehensive review. To evaluate the curative effect of EA on thermal hyperalgesia in CFA rats, and to explore parameters that influence treatment effects, studies of EA treatment on thermal hyperalgesia of CFA rat model were identified from nine databases up to June 17, 2017. Outcome measure was heat pain threshold. All the data were analyzed using Stata 14.0/MP software. 26 studies identified included 801 rats. The quality score of the studies ranged from 3 to 6, with a mean of 4.08. The effect of EA group was improvement in outcome compared with CFA group. In subgroup analyses, frequency 2, 100, 2/100 or 20-100 Hz. acupoint Huántiào(环跳GB30),Kūnlún(昆仑 BL60) +Xuánzhōng(悬钟 GB39), Zúsānlī(足三里 ST36) +BL60 or ST36+Sānyīnjiāo(三阴交SP6), retention time 20 or 30 min, treatment time for post-CFA injection immediately, the same day as CFA injection, post-CFA injection 24 or 48 h and interval 24 or 48 h all can improve the effect on CFA rat heat pain threshold. These results show that there is positive effective of EA in CFA-induced pain,different parameters have different effects on EA treatment of CFA heat hyperalgesia, however, because of the number of eligible researches and the high risk of bias, the evidence supporting this conclusion is limited.
