Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17893311›Full record

Trial reportArchives of internal medicine2007

German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: randomized, multicenter, blinded, parallel-group trial with 3 groups.

Michael Haake, Hans-Helge Müller, Carmen Schade-Brittinger, Heinz D Basler, Helmut Schäfer, Christoph Maier, Heinz G Endres, Hans J Trampisch, Albrecht Molsberger

Erratum issued 3 registry-linked trialsAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Archives of internal medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 225 papers, 30 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
225citing papers in PubMed, 30 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03294148 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2017, after this paper: background citation

Mind-body Treatments for Chronic Back Pain

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Colorado, BoulderRan2017 to 2019Enrolled151ConditionsChronic Pain, Back Pain Lower Back Chronic, Back Pain, LowArmsOpen-Label Placebo Treatment for Chronic Back Pain, Psychotherapy Treatment for Chronic Back Pain
NCT03539588 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2017, after this paper: background citation

Trigger Point Dry Needling vs Trigger Point Dry Needling With Intramuscular Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Sub-acute and Chronic Low Back Pain in a Military Population: A Randomized Crossover Design

TypeinterventionalSponsorWilliam Beaumont Army Medical CenterRan2017 to 2017Enrolled30ConditionsSub-acute and Chronic Low Back PainArmstrigger point dry needling, Electrical Stimulation
NCT04719689 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2019, after this paper: background citation

Comparison of Dry Needling and Dry Cupping in Positional Fault of Pelvis Due to Myofascial Trigger Points in Quadratus Lumborum

TypeinterventionalSponsorRiphah International UniversityRan2019 to 2021Enrolled26ConditionsMyofascial Trigger Point Pain, Quadratus Lumborum Syndrome, Positional Fault of Pelvis, Myofascial Trigger Point in Quadratus LumborumArmsDry needling, Dry cupping
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

225 citing papers in PubMed, 30 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  10. Identifying patients with chronic pain who respond to acupuncture: results from an individual patient data meta-analysis.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2021
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  12. Acupuncture for chronic nonspecific low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020
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165 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Michael HaakeOrthopaedic Department, University of Regensburg, Bad Abbach, Germany.
Hans-Helge Müller
Carmen Schade-Brittinger
Heinz D Basler
Helmut Schäfer
Christoph Maier
Heinz G Endres
Hans J Trampisch
Albrecht Molsberger

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo our knowledge, verum acupuncture has never been directly compared with sham acupuncture and guideline-based conventional therapy in patients with chronic low back pain.

methodsA patient- and observer-blinded randomized controlled trial conducted in Germany involving 340 outpatient practices, including 1162 patients aged 18 to 86 years (mean +/- SD age, 50 +/- 15 years) with a history of chronic low back pain for a mean of 8 years. Patients underwent ten 30-minute sessions, generally 2 sessions per week, of verum acupuncture (n = 387) according to principles of traditional Chinese medicine; sham acupuncture (n = 387) consisting of superficial needling at nonacupuncture points; or conventional therapy, a combination of drugs, physical therapy, and exercise (n = 388). Five additional sessions were offered to patients who had a partial response to treatment (10%-50% reduction in pain intensity). Primary outcome was response after 6 months, defined as 33% improvement or better on 3 pain-related items on the Von Korff Chronic Pain Grade Scale questionnaire or 12% improvement or better on the back-specific Hanover Functional Ability Questionnaire. Patients who were unblinded or had recourse to other than permitted concomitant therapies during follow-up were classified as nonresponders regardless of symptom improvement.

resultsAt 6 months, response rate was 47.6% in the verum acupuncture group, 44.2% in the sham acupuncture group, and 27.4% in the conventional therapy group. Differences among groups were as follows: verum vs sham, 3.4% (95% confidence interval, -3.7% to 10.3%; P = .39); verum vs conventional therapy, 20.2% (95% confidence interval, 13.4% to 26.7%; P < .001); and sham vs conventional therapy, 16.8% (95% confidence interval, 10.1% to 23.4%; P < .001.

conclusionsLow back pain improved after acupuncture treatment for at least 6 months. Effectiveness of acupuncture, either verum or sham, was almost twice that of conventional therapy.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChronic DiseaseDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGermanyHumansLow Back PainMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementSurveys and QuestionnairesTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID17893311

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.