SynthesisBMJ open2018
Electroacupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for motor dysfunction in acute stroke survivors: a systematic review and meta-analyses.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for lower limb motor impairment in post-stroke hemiplegia: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Optimal acupuncture methods for lower limb motor dysfunction after stroke: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Traditional Chinese Medicine Interventions in the Rehabilitation of Cognitive and Motor Function in Patients With Stroke: An Overview and Evidence Map.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Abdominal Acupuncture as an Adjunctive Therapy for the Recovery of Motor Function After Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Effectiveness on post-stroke hemiplegia in patients: electroacupuncture plus cycling electroacupuncture alone.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2023Trial
- Weakened Effective Connectivity Related to Electroacupuncture in Stroke Patients with Prolonged Flaccid Paralysis: An EEG Pilot Study.Neural plasticity · 2021Trial
- Article
- Electroacupuncture Potentiates Astragaloside IV Cerebral Delivery via P-Glycoprotein-Mediated Transcellular Transport: A Novel Blood-Brain Barrier Penetration Strategy for Ischemic Stroke Therapy.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture Improves the Motor Function in Rats with Spinal Cord Injury by Regulating UCN2-Mediated cAMP-PKA Signaling in the Spinal Cord Microenvironment.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Potential impacts of acupuncture on motor function recovery after ischemic stroke: insights from basic and clinical studies.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Review
- Acupuncture as adjunctive therapy for acute cerebral infarction: a randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Mobilizing endogenous neuroprotection: the mechanism of the protective effect of acupuncture on the brain after stroke.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- Rehabilitation effect of core muscle training combined with functional electrical stimulation on lower limb motor and balance functions in stroke patients.Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Contralateral needling at the foot of unaffected side combining with rehabilitation treatment for motor dysfunction of hand after ischemic stroke: study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2023Article
- Analysis of medical service utilization for post-stroke sequelae in Korea between 2016 and 2018: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2022Observational
- Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for stroke: A protocol for overview of systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2022Article
- Elucidating the mechanisms of post-stroke motor recovery mediated by electroacupuncture using diffusion tensor tractography.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Efficacy of Acupuncture Treatment for Incidence of Poststroke Comorbidities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nationalized Cohort Studies.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Electroacupuncture Alters BCI-Based Brain Network in Stroke Patients.Computational intelligence and neuroscience · 2022Article
- Publication Trends in Rehabilitative Effects of Acupuncture: A Visual Analysis of the Literature.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo assess the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with rehabilitation therapy (RT) and/or conventional drugs (CD) for improving poststroke motor dysfunction (PSMD).
designSystematic review and meta-analysis.
methodsThe China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biological Medicine Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Cochrane Library, Medline and Embase were electronically searched from inception to December 2016. The methodological quality of the included trials was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. Statistical analyses were performed by RevMan V.5.3 and Stata SE V.11.0.
resultsNineteen trials with 1434 participants were included for qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis. The methodological quality of the included trials was generally poor. The meta-analysis indicated that the EA group might be benefiting more than the non-EA group in terms of the changes in the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale (FMA) (weighted mean difference (WMD): 10.79, 95% CI 6.39 to 15.20, P<0.001), FMA for lower extremity (WMD: 5.16, 95% CI 3.78 to 6.54, P<0.001) and activities of daily living (standardised mean difference: 1.37, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.96, P<0.001). However, there was no difference between EA and non-EA groups in terms of the effective rate (relative risk: 1.13, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.27, P=0.050). Moreover, there were not any reports of side effects due to EA combined with RT and/or CD in the included trials.
conclusionsThis review provides new evidence for the effectiveness and safety of EA combined with RT and/or CD for PSMD. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously because of methodological weakness and publication bias. Further clinical trials with a rigorous design and large sample sizes are warranted. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016037597.
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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.