Objective To analyze current situation of application of acupuncture in the clinical treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease（ COPD） at stable stage based on domestic clinical research literature of COPD at stable stage treated with acupuncture from January 1990 to December 2016. Methods An online search was undertaken to collect pertinent literature of COPD treated with acupuncture. Therapeutic methods

acupoint selection methods

treatment frequencies

courses of treatment

acupuncture manipulations

untoward reactions

needling sensations and other information were collected and analyzed. Results Thirty two articles were included in which 30 articles reported acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training

moxibustion

western medicine and other therapeutic methods

16 articles（ 50. 0%） with combined application of two therapeutic methods

13 articles（ 40. 6%） with combined application of three therapeutic methods. Among acupuncture manipulations

filiform needle（ 24 articles

75. 0%） was the most popular

followed by electro-acupuncture（ 8 articles

25. 0%）. Thirty-nine acupoints were included

the most widely used acupoints were Danzhong（ CV 17）（ 21 articles）

Feishu（ BL13）（ 19 articles）

Dingchuan（ EX-B1）（ 16 articles）

Shenshu（ BL 23）（ 16 articles）

Zusanli（ ST 36）（ 15 articles） and Guanyuan（ CV 4）（ 14 articles）. The commonest needle retaining time was 30 minutes（ 17 articles

53. 1%）

followed by 20minutes（ 4 articles

12. 5%）. Treatment frequency in ten articles（ 31. 3%） was once daily

and treatment frequency in nine articles（ 28. 1%） was once every other day. Acupuncture manipulations were reported in 14 articles. Untoward reactions were not reported in all the collected articles. Conclusion Therapeutic methods of COPD at stable stage treated with acupuncture were mainly filiform needle or electro-acupuncture combined with other therapeutic methods.There was a great difference among needle retaining time

treatment frequency and course of treatment in each article.