SynthesisBMC complementary and alternative medicine2015
Effectiveness of acupuncture for angina pectoris: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture combined with multiple therapies for angina pectoris: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Quality of the Evidence Supporting the Role of Acupuncture for Stable Angina Pectoris: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Acupuncture as an Adjunctive Treatment for Angina Due to Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2019Pooled it
- Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of acupuncture for angina in an underserved diverse population.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2022Trial
- Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for angina pectoris: An overview of systematic reviews.Integrative medicine research · 2022Review
- Acupuncture as Adjuvant Therapy for Treating Stable Angina Pectoris with Moderate Coronary Artery Lesions and the Mechanism of Heart-Brain Interactions: A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- Acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for stable angina.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2020Article
- Acupuncture to Improve Symptoms for Stable Angina: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2019Article
- Article
- Hypoglycemic effects of Trichosanthes kirilowii and its protein constituent in diabetic mice: the involvement of insulin receptor pathway.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2017Article
- Does acupuncture reduce the risk of acute myocardial infarction?Integrative medicine research · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe purpose of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture for angina pectoris.
methodsEleven electronic databases were searched until January 2013. The study included randomized controlled trials that the effectiveness of acupuncture alone was compared to anti-angina medicines (in addition to conventional treatment) and the effectiveness of a combination of acupuncture plus anti-angina medicines was compared to anti-angina medicines alone. The trial selection, data extraction, quality assessment and data analytic procedures outlined in the 2011 Cochrane Handbook were involved.
resultsThe study included 25 randomized controlled trials (involving 2,058 patients) that met our inclusion criteria. The pooled results showed that the number of patients with ineffectiveness of angina relief was less in the combined acupuncture-anti-angina treatment group than in the anti-angina medicines alone group (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.23-0.47, p < 0.00001, I2 = 0%). Similarly, compared to the anti-angina medicines alone group, fewer patients in the combined treatment group showed no ECG improvement (RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.40-0.62, p < 0.00001, I2 = 0%). However, no differences were observed between acupuncture treatment alone and anti-angina medicines alone for both outcome measures. Only four trials mentioned adverse effects. One trial found no significant difference between acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and three reported no adverse events. The quality of the trials was found to be low.
conclusionsThe findings showed very low evidence to support the use of acupuncture for improving angina symptoms and ECG of angina patients. However, the quality of the trials included in this study was low. Large and rigorously designed trials are needed to confirm the potential benefit and adverse events of acupuncture.
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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.