Trial reportCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2016
Electroacupuncture and splinting versus splinting alone to treat carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 5 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Outcome Metrics in the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.Hand (New York, N.Y.) · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Conservative Treatment According to Severity and Systemic Disease in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Acupuncture and related interventions for the treatment of symptoms associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Acupuncture for neuropathic pain in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- The effects of virtual reality-mediated tendon and nerve gliding exercises in the conservative management of carpal tunnel syndrome: a double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2024Trial
- Acupuncture Therapy for Extremity Musculoskeletal Pain: A Clinically Focused Evidence Synthesis with Therapeutic Implications.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Carpal tunnel syndrome conservative treatment: a literature review.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2022Review
- The Effect of Acupuncture on Hand and Wrist Pain Intensity, Functional Status, and Quality of Life in Adults: A Systematic Review.Medical acupuncture · 2022Review
- Efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS): A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in surgery · 2022Review
- Acupuncture plus night splint for quality of life and disability in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.Integrative medicine research · 2019Article
- Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome with wrist splinting: study protocol for a randomized placebo-controlled trial.Trials · 2019Article
- How Placebo Needles Differ From Placebo Pills?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe effectiveness of acupuncture for managing carpal tunnel syndrome is uncertain, particularly in patients already receiving conventional treatments (e.g., splinting). We aimed to assess the effects of electroacupuncture combined with splinting.
methodsWe conducted a randomized parallel-group assessor-blinded 2-arm trial on patients with clinically diagnosed primary carpal tunnel syndrome. The treatment group was offered 13 sessions of electroacupuncture over 17 weeks. The treatment and control groups both received continuous nocturnal wrist splinting.
resultsOf 181 participants randomly assigned to electroacupuncture combined with splinting (n = 90) or splinting alone (n = 91), 174 (96.1%) completed all follow-up. The electroacupuncture group showed greater improvements at 17 weeks in symptoms (primary outcome of Symptom Severity Scale score mean difference [MD] -0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.36 to -0.03), disability (Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire score MD -6.72, 95% CI -10.9 to -2.57), function (Functional Status Scale score MD -0.22, 95% CI -0.38 to -0.05), dexterity (time to complete blinded pick-up test MD -6.13 seconds, 95% CI -10.6 to -1.63) and maximal tip pinch strength (MD 1.17 lb, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.86). Differences between groups were small and clinically unimportant for reduction in pain (numerical rating scale -0.70, 95% CI -1.34 to -0.06), and not significant for sensation (first finger monofilament test -0.08 mm, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.06).
interpretationFor patients with primary carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic mild to moderate symptoms and no indication for surgery, electroacupuncture produces small changes in symptoms, disability, function, dexterity and pinch strength when added to nocturnal splinting.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Register no. ChiCTR-TRC-11001655 (www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=7890); subsequently deposited in the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (apps.who.int/trialsearch/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=ChiCTR-TRC-11001655).
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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.