SynthesisPloS one2017
Traditional Chinese medicine for knee osteoarthritis: An overview of systematic review.
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 56 papers, 3 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
56 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials: evaluating the efficacy of isokinetic muscle strengthening training in improving knee osteoarthritis outcomes.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of acupuncture with moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Warm needle acupuncture for osteoarthritis: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- A randomized controlled trial on the effect of focal thermal therapy at acupressure points treating osteoarthritis of the knee.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2021Trial
- WuFu decoction alleviates osteoarthritis by regulating TGF-β1/Smad and ERK1/2 pathways.Histology and histopathology · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of Eight Part Vajra Gong in alleviating pain and enhancing quality of life among patients with osteoarthritis: a retrospective study.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Predictive Value of the Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index for the Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture and Exercise Rehabilitation in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Retrospective Study.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Observational
- Effects of different acupuncture strategies on the prognosis and inflammatory factor levels associated with the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2026Article
- Cyasterone Improves Mitochondrial Function and Protects against Knee Osteoarthritis by Activating PPARγ.Current medicinal chemistry · 2026Article
- Acupuncture alleviates the progression of knee osteoarthritis by inhibiting X-inactive specific transcript-mediated activation of the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 signaling.Nagoya journal of medical science · 2025Article
- Icariside II Alleviates Chondrocyte Inflammatory Injury by Inhibiting the TNIP2/NF-κB Pathway.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2025Article
- Modified Qianghuo Shengshi Decoction Ameliorates Osteoarthritis via Inhibiting PI3K/Akt Pathway-Related Ferroptosis.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2025Article
- Maxing Yigan formula promotes cartilage regeneration by regulating chondrocyte autophagy in osteoarthritis.In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Combination of Thunder Fire Moxibustion with Other Forms of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Osteoarthritis Knee: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Efficacy and Potential Mechanisms of Yi-Ping Lin Circum-Knee Acupuncture in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- The structure, process and outcomes of interprofessional care among knee osteoarthritis patients: a scoping review.EFORT open reviews · 2025Review
- Epimedin C alleviated osteoarthritis development by regulating chondrocyte Nrf2-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome axis.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Gubi decoction mitigates knee osteoarthritis via promoting chondrocyte autophagy through METTL3-mediated ATG7 mJournal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2024Article
- Therapeutic Potential of Ginsenosides on Bone Metabolism: A Review of Osteoporosis, Periodontal Disease and Osteoarthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Heat and Acupuncture to Manage Osteoarthritis of the Knee (HARMOKnee): Protocol for an Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
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
backgroundTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been accepted as a complementary therapy for knee osteoarthritis. However, the efficacy and safety of the intervention were still conflicting and uncertain. Meanwhile, the quality of methodology and evidence in the field was unknown.
objectiveTo summarize the characteristics and critically evaluate the quality of methodology, as well as the evidence of systematic reviews (SRs) on TCM for knee osteoarthritis.
methodsFive electronic databases were searched from inception to April 2016. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed by AMSTAR and ROBIS. The quality of the evidence was determined using the GRADE approach.
resultsTen SRs were included. The conclusions suggest that TCM provides potential benefits for patients with knee osteoarthritis. These benefits include pain relief, functional improvement, and presence of few adverse events. Limitations of the methodological quality mainly included the lack of a-priori protocol or protocol registration and incomprehensive literature search. A list of excluded studies was also not provided. The overall quality of evidence in the SRs was poor, ranging from "very low" to "low," mainly because of the serious risk of bias of original trials, inconsistencies, and imprecision in the outcomes.
conclusionsTCM generally appears to be effective for knee osteoarthritis treatment. However, the evidence is not robust enough because of the methodological flaws in SRs. Hence, these conclusions on available SRs should be treated with caution for clinical practice.
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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.