SynthesisPloS one2017
Effects of acupuncture for the treatment of endometriosis-related pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture monotherapy for endometriosis-related pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of psychotherapeutic interventions on pain and quality of life in endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis study.Irish journal of medical science · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Acupuncture for clinical improvement of endometriosis-related pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Pooled it
- Acupuncture for the Relief of Chronic Pain: A Synthesis of Systematic Reviews.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2019Pooled it
- Reduced vagal tone in women with endometriosis and auricular vagus nerve stimulation as a potential therapeutic approach.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Emerging Non-Pharmacological Approaches in Endometriosis: Mechanistic Insights into Phototherapy, Hyperthermia, and Acupuncture-Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- International standard of Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques: clinical guidelines for dysmenorrhea (2022).Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2024Article
- Review
- Efficacy and safety of a novel pain management device, AT-04, for endometriosis-related pain: study protocol for a phase III randomized controlled trial.Reproductive health · 2024Article
- Acupuncture and Related Therapies for Endometriosis: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Acupuncture for pain and pain-related disability in deep infiltrating endometriosis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Acupuncture for endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Integrative medicine research · 2023Review
- Evaluation and Medical Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain.Seminars in interventional radiology · 2023Review
- Endometriosis and the Temporomandibular Joint-Preliminary Observations.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Analgesic Efficacy of Acupuncture on Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Development of Provisional Acupuncture Guidelines for Pelvic Pain in Endometriosis Using an e-Delphi Consensus Process.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2023Article
- Review
- Approach to Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women: Incorporating Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions in Assessment and Management.Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America · 2022Review
- Overview of the Effect of Complementary Medicine on Treating or Mitigating the Risk of Endometriosis.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEndometriosis is a multifactorial, oestrogen-dependent, inflammatory, gynaecological condition that can result in long-lasting visceral pelvic pain and infertility. Acupuncture could be an effective treatment for endometriosis and may relieve pain. Our aim in the present study was to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for endometriosis-related pain.
methodsIn December 2016, six databases were searched for randomised controlled trials that determined the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of endometriosis-related pain. Ultimately, 10 studies involving 589 patients were included. The main outcomes assessed were variation in pain level, variation in peripheral blood CA-125 level, and clinical effective rate. All analyses were performed using comprehensive meta-analysis statistical software.
resultsOf the 10 studies included, only one pilot study used a placebo control and assessed blinding; the rest used various controls (medications and herbs), which were impossible to blind. The sample sizes were small in all studies, ranging from 8 to 36 patients per arm. The mean difference (MD) in pain reduction (pre- minus post-interventional pain level-measured on a 0-10-point scale) between the acupuncture and control groups was 1.36 (95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.01-1.72, P<0.0001). Acupuncture had a positive effect on peripheral blood CA-125 levels, as compared with the control groups (MD = 5.9, 95% CI = 1.56-10.25, P = 0.008). Similarly, the effect of acupuncture on clinical effective rate was positive, as compared with the control groups (odds ratio = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.24-3.44, P = 0.005).
conclusionsFew randomised, blinded clinical trials have addressed the efficacy of acupuncture in treating endometriosis-related pain. Nonetheless, the current literature suggests that acupuncture reduces pain and serum CA-125 levels, regardless of the control intervention used. To confirm these findings, additional, blinded studies with proper controls and adequate sample sizes are needed.
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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.