SynthesisWorld journal of gastroenterology2014
Effectiveness of acupuncture to treat irritable bowel syndrome: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in World journal of gastroenterology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Functional Somatic Symptoms.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2019Pooled it
- Physiological impact of nanoporous acupuncture needles: Laser Doppler perfusion imaging in healthy volunteers.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Comparison of Electroacupuncture and Mild-Warm Moxibustion on Brain-Gut Function in Patients with Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- A randomised controlled trial: can acupuncture reduce drug requirement during analgosedation with propofol and alfentanil for colonoscopy? A study protocol.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2015Trial
- Brain regions involved in moxibustion-induced analgesia in irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2014Trial
- Augmentation of Cancer Cachexia Components With Targeted Acupuncture in Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.Integrative cancer therapiesTrial
- Decoding Abdominal Pain in Constipation-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Constipation: Mechanisms and Managements.Current gastroenterology reports · 2025Review
- Tracing Evolution of Hotspots and Frontiers: A Bibliometric Exploration of Acupuncture Therapy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture at Sensitized Acupoints Relieves Somatic Referred Pain in Colitis Rats by Inhibiting Sympathetic-Sensory Coupling to Interfere with 5-HT Signaling Pathway.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2024Article
- Neuroplasticity of the white matter tracts underlying recovery of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome following acupuncture treatment.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Adverse effects associated with acupuncture therapies: An evidence mapping from 535 systematic reviews.Chinese medicine · 2023Review
- Spinal cord astrocyte P2X7Rs mediate the inhibitory effect of electroacupuncture on visceral hypersensitivity of rat with irritable bowel syndrome.Purinergic signalling · 2023Article
- Article
- Sustained ameliorating effects and autonomic mechanisms of transcutaneous electrical acustimulation at ST36 in patients with chronic constipation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Proteomic analysis of rat colonic mucosa following acupuncture treatment for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea.PloS one · 2022Article
- Acupuncture relieves the visceral pain of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome rats by regulating P2X4 expression.American journal of translational research · 2022Article
- Comparison of physical electrical conductivity and acupuncture de-qi sensation between stainless steel needling and supercritical fluid-treated needling.Biomedical journal · 2021Article
- Standardizing and optimizing acupuncture treatment for irritable bowel syndrome: A Delphi expert consensus study.Integrative medicine research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
methodsWe searched MEDLIINE, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1966 to February 2013 for double-blind, placebo-controlled trials investigating the efficacy of acupuncture in the management of IBS. Studies were screened for inclusion based on randomization, controls, and measurable outcomes reported. We used the modified Jadad score for assessing the quality of the articles. STATA 11.0 and Revman 5.0 were used for meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed by Begg's and Egger's tests.
resultsSix randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials met the criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The modified Jadad score of the articles was > 3, and five articles were of high quality. We analyzed the heterogeneity and found that these studies did not cause heterogeneity in our meta-analysis. Begg's test showed P = 0.707 and Egger's test showed P = 0.334. There was no publication bias in our meta-analysis (Begg's test, P = 0.707; Egger's test, P = 0.334). From the forest plot, the diamond was on the right side of the vertical line and did not intersect with the line. The pooled relative risk for clinical improvement with acupuncture was 1.75 (95%CI: 1.24-2.46, P = 0.001). Using the two different systems of STATA 11.0 and Revman 5.0, we confirmed the significant efficacy of acupuncture for treating IBS.
conclusionAcupuncture exhibits clinically and statistically significant control of IBS symptoms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.