ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2015
Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Chronic Constipation.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Influence of acupuncture and moxibustion on gastrointestinal function and adverse events in gastric cancer patients after surgery and chemotherapy: a meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Prediction of Massage Force and Intra-abdominal Wall Deformation During Massage by a Digital Twin Model Based on an Abdominal Finite Element Model.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- The Effects of Chinese Dwarf Cherry (Nutrients · 2026Article
- Autonomic effects of electroacupuncture in opioid-induced constipation in male rats.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Research Hotspots and Trends in Acupuncture for Cancer:A bibliometric analysis from 2004 to 2024.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Effect of acupuncture therapy for postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction in gastric and colorectal cancers: an umbrella review.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- Xuanhuang Runtong Tablets Relieve Slow Transit Constipation in Mice by Regulating TLR5/IL-17A Signaling Mediated by Gut Microbes.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2023Article
- Gut microbiota: a new avenue to reveal pathological mechanisms of constipation.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2022Review
- Pediatric Tuina for functional constipation in children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trail.Trials · 2022Article
- Role of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicines in Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders.Current gastroenterology reports · 2022Review
- Electroacupuncture Improves Intestinal Motility through Exosomal miR-34c-5p Targeting SCF/c-Kit Signaling Pathway in Slow Transit Constipation Model Rats.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- A Review of Recent Studies on the Antioxidant and Anti-Infectious Properties ofOxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Review
- Nonmedical Therapies for Chronic Constipation.Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2021Article
- Roles of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Pathogenesis of Functional Constipation.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Review
- Article
- Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Management in a Hospitalized Geriatric Patient with Constipation.Medical acupuncture · 2020Article
- The Effectiveness of Acupuncture in Management of Functional Constipation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Review
- Use of Bioelectronics in the Gastrointestinal Tract.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2019Review
- Acupuncture for Chronic Constipation in Patients with Chronic Disorders of Consciousness After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.Medical acupuncture · 2019Article
- Initial Effects of Electroacupuncture for Chronic Severe Functional Constipation and the Potential Underlying Factors: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Article
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 at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chronic constipation, an ancient disease, is prevalent, and costly in the general population. Complementary and alternative therapies are frequently used for constipation. This review introduces various methods of complementary and alternative therapies, including acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, and herbal medicine. Efficacy, safety, influence factors, sham control design, and mechanisms of these therapies are discussed and evaluated. Acupuncture or electroacupuncture was found to be most commonly used for constipation among these complementary and alternative therapies, followed by herbal medicine. Although only a small number of clinical studies are flawless, our review of the literature seems to suggest that acupuncture or electroacupuncture and herbal medicine are effective in treating constipation, whereas findings on massage and moxibustion are inconclusive. More well-designed clinical trials are needed to improve and prove the efficacy of the complementary and alternative therapies for constipation; mechanistic studies that would lead to wide spread use and improvement of the methods are also discussed in this review.
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.