Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24069229›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2013

Manual acupuncture for treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Wei Chen, Guo-Yan Yang, Bo Liu, Eric Manheimer, Jian-Ping Liu

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 25 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
19.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2018
    Pooled it
  5. Acupuncture for the Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2017
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Trial
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Effect of Acupuncture on Diabetic Neuropathy: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Wei ChenCentre For Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Guo-Yan Yang
Bo Liu
Eric Manheimer
Jian-Ping Liu
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine · CNBeijing Friendship Hospital · CNUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore · US

Funding

Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field: Resource for ResearchR24AT001293 · NCCIH · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI BERMAN, BRIAN M, WIELAND, LISA SUSAN · 2003 to 2022
$9.4M
NCCIH NIH HHS R24 AT001293
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveManual acupuncture has commonly been used in China, either alone or in combination with conventional medicine, to treat diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review to evaluate the potential benefits and harms of manual acupuncture for DPN to justify its clinical use.

methodsWe searched for published and unpublished randomized controlled trials of manual acupuncture for DPN till 31 March 2013. Revman 5.2 software was used for data analysis with effect estimate presented as relative risk (RR) and mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI).

resultsA total of 25 trials involving 1649 participants were included. The methodological quality of included trials was generally poor. Meta-analysis showed that manual acupuncture had better effect on global symptom improvement compared with mecobalamin (RR 1.31, 95%CI 1.21 to 1.42), vitamin B1 and B12 (RR 1.55, 95%CI 1.33 to 1.80), and no treatment (RR 1.56, 95%CI 1.31 to 1.85), and that the combination of manual acupuncture and mecobalamin had better effect compared with mecobalamin alone on global symptom improvement (RR 1.56, 95%CI 1.28 to 1.90). Adverse events were not reported in any trials. The asymmetric funnel plot suggested publication bias.

conclusionsDespite the number of trials of manual acupuncture for DPN and their uniformly positive results, no clinically relevant conclusions can be drawn from this review due to the trials' high risks of bias and the possibility of publication bias. Clearly defined and internationally acknowledged outcome measures are required for future study. There remains an urgent need for training Chinese researchers in conducting unbiased trials as well as prospectively registering all initiated Chinese trials to avoid publication bias.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyDiabetic NeuropathiesRandomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Identifiers

PMID24069229
PMCPMC3771980
OpenAlexW2074774288

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.