The design of"sham acupuncture"is necessary in clinical trials of acupuncture for confirming its effectiveness in the treatment of different disorders.The authors of the present paper made a comprehensive analysis on"sham acupuncture"or"placebo acupuncture"in clinical trials of acupuncture therapy in western countries from 1)the definition and background of sham acupuncture

2)current state of acupuncture clinical trials with sham acupuncture design in different countries

3)current situations of acupuncture clinical trials with sham acupuncture design in Germany

and 4)current state of large sample

randomized controlled clinical trials of acupuncture therapy with sham acupuncture design in other western countries.The authors of the present paper also make an analysis on the developing trends of acupuncture clinical trials with sham acupuncture design and put forward some problems existing in current acupuncture researches.