ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2015
Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Treating Sciatica: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
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. It is linked to trial NCT02770963 (Efficacy of Acupuncture for Discogenic Sciatica), which is not on this map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 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.
Efficacy of Acupuncture for Discogenic Sciatica: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- How effective are physiotherapy interventions in treating people with sciatica? A systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2023Pooled it
- The efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy for sciatica: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture and Acupuncture-Combined Therapies in the Treatment of Sciatica Caused by Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Network Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Acupuncture Therapy for Sciatica: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- A Data Mining Study for Analysis of Acupoint Selection and Combinations in Acupuncture Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Acupuncture for radicular pain: a review of analgesic mechanism.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2024Review
- Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with acupuncture on NLRP3 inflammasome and protease levels in patients with neuropathic pain.American journal of translational research · 2023Article
- Acupuncture for chronic sciatica: protocol for a multicenter randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Can Acupuncture Improve Chronic Spinal Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Global spine journal · 2021Article
- Needling Interventions for Sciatica: Choosing Methods Based on Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Efficacy of acupuncture for sciatica: study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial.Trials · 2021Article
- The Management of Sciatica by Acupuncture: An Expert Consensus Using the Improved Delphi Survey.Journal of pain research · 2021Article
- Changes in resting-state functional connectivity in nonacute sciatica with acupuncture modulation: A preliminary study.Brain and behavior · 2020Article
- Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture against Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Review
- Article
- Therapeutic Efficacy and the Impact of the "Dose" Effect of Acupuncture to Treat Sciatica: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.Journal of pain research · 2019Article
- The effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic pain with depression: A systematic review protocol.Medicine · 2017Article
- A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing the Effectiveness of Electroacupuncture versus Medium-Frequency Electrotherapy for Discogenic Sciatica.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This is a systematic review and meta-analysis, which aimed to assess the current evidence on the effects and safety of acupuncture for treating sciatica. In this review, a total of 11 randomized controlled trials were included. As a result, we found that the use of acupuncture may be more effective than drugs and may enhance the effect of drugs for patients with sciatica, but because of the insufficient number of relevant and rigorous studies, the evidence is limited. Future trials using rigorous methodology, appropriate comparisons, and clinically relevant outcomes should be conducted.
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.