Acupuncture can be authenticated to over 3000 years and is a long established tradition that is now globally recognised, including in the UK. In East Asia it is routinely used as part of an integrated healthcare system, and is also practised in many teaching hospitals. Traditional medicine, including acupuncture, is now recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) coding system.
Two surveys conducted independently of each other and published in the British Medical Journal in 2001 concluded that the risk of a serious adverse reaction to acupuncture is less than 1 in 10,000. One survey was of traditional acupuncturists and the other of doctors who practise acupuncture. A total of 66,000 treatments were reviewed altogether, with only a handful of minor and transient side effects recorded. A 2003 survey of 6,000 patients of acupuncture produced almost identical figures. A more recent review in 2019 evaluated acupuncture research trials in Australia for safety and adverse events. The authors assessed 1160 treatments conducted in such trials. They concluded low rates of minor adverse events (such as bruising or nausea) when acupuncture was carried out by highly qualified practitioners.