Trial reportToxins2017
Efficacy of Bee Venom Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Sham-Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Toxins, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 4 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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Harnessing bee venom for inflammatory diseases management: from traditional medicine to nanotechnology.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Bee venom acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain conditions: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Clinical Effectiveness and Adverse Events of Bee Venom Therapy: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Toxins · 2020Pooled it
- A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effectiveness and Safety of Pharmacopuncture for Chronic Lower Back Pain.Journal of pain research · 2023Trial
- Trial
- From Toxin to Therapy: Biomedical Applications of Bee Venom in Cancer, Diabetes, and Neurodegenerative Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Comparative evaluation of short vs. long needles in deep ultrasound-guided pharmacopuncture for acute low back pain: study protocol.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Pharmacological interventions for patients with chronic primary musculoskeletal pain: disparity between synthesized evidence and real-world clinical practice.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Therapeutic effects of melittin on paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathic pain and spinal neuronal hyperactivity in male rats.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Bee Venom Acupuncture in the Treatment of Musculoskeletal System Disorders: A Comprehensive Review.Pain research & management · 2025Review
- Review
- Effect of Korean Medicine Treatment on Patients with Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Retrospective Chart Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Melittin as a therapeutic agent for rheumatoid arthritis: mechanistic insights, advanced delivery systems, and future perspectives.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Pharmacopuncture Therapy as an Adjunctive Treatment for Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Antiviral attributes of bee venom as a possible therapeutic approach against SARS-CoV-2 infection.Future virology · 2023Review
- Research Trends of Pharmacopuncture: a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer (2007-2023).Journal of pharmacopuncture · 2023Review
- Severe Systemic Reactions Following Bee Sting Injuries in Korea.Yonsei medical journal · 2023Article
- Review
- Persistent severe muscle pain following mistakenly injected high-dose bee venom: A care-compliant case report.Medicine · 2022Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bee venom acupuncture (BVA) is an effective treatment for chronic low back pain (CLBP) through the pharmacological effects of bee venom and the simultaneous stimulation of acupoints. However, evidence of its efficacy and safety in humans remains unclear. Using a double-blind, randomized study, 54 patients with non-specific CLBP were assigned to the BVA and sham groups. All participants underwent six sessions of real or sham BVA for 3 weeks, in addition to administration of 180 mg of loxonin per day. The primary outcome, that is, "bothersomeness" derived from back pain, was assessed using the visual analog scale. Secondary outcomes included pain intensity, dysfunction related to back pain (Oswestry Disability Index), quality of life (EuroQol 5-Dimension), and depressive mood (Beck's depression inventory). Outcomes were evaluated every week during the treatment period and followed up at weeks 4, 8, and 12. After 3 weeks of the treatment, significant improvements were observed in the bothersomeness, pain intensity, and functional status in the BVA group compared with the sham group. Although minimal adverse events were observed in both groups, subsequent recovery was achieved without treatment. Consequently, our results suggest that it can be used along with conventional pharmacological therapies for the treatment of CLBP.
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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.