ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2018
Acupuncture at Tiaokou (ST38) for Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis: What Strengths Does It Have? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Different Degree Centrality Changes in the Brain after Acupuncture on Contralateral or Ipsilateral Acupoint in Patients with Chronic Shoulder Pain: A Resting-State fMRI Study.Neural plasticity · 2020Trial
- Efficacy and safety of 2 Hz versus 100 Hz electroacupuncture for pain-dominant shoulder periarthritis: a study protocol for a single-center randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Pharmacopuncture therapy for adhesive capsulitis: A pragmatic randomized controlled pilot study.Integrative medicine research · 2024Article
- Article
- Application of Acupuncture for Shoulder Pain Over the Past 22 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
- Pilot Study: Physical Examination Evidence of Acupuncture Principal Meridian Coupling.Medical acupuncture · 2021Article
- Effects of massage and acupuncture on the range of motion and daily living ability of patients with frozen shoulder complicated with cervical spondylosis.American journal of translational research · 2021Article
- Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Special Issue.Orthopaedic surgery · 2020Article
- 'Frozen shoulder' is ill-defined. How can it be described better?EFORT open reviews · 2020Review
- The Effectiveness of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Frozen Shoulder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Clinical Events Associated with Acupuncture Intervention for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammation Associated Disorders.Mediators of inflammation · 2020Review
- Acupotomy Therapy for Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Review
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTiaokou (ST38) is used as a crucial distal acupoint for treating shoulder adhesive capsulitis (SAC) in traditional Chinese medicine. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture at Tiaokou for treating SAC.
methodsWe searched eight electronic databases without language restrictions. All the literature was processed to identify RCTs comparing acupuncture at Tiaokou with other therapies (e.g., acupuncture at local shoulder acupoints and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Two reviewers extracted trials and collected outcome data independently. A meta-analysis was performed following a strict methodology.
results19 RCTs involving 1944 participants met our inclusion criteria. The majority of the trials were determined to be of low quality. Positive results were found for acupuncture treatment at Tiaokou (as sole treatment or in combination with shoulder acupoints), which resulted in an improved percentage of clinical effectiveness and Constant-Murley Score values, as well as a reduction in Visual Analogue Scale values of SAC patients.
conclusionOur review found encouraging evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture at Tiaokou for SAC. Nonetheless, despite stringent methodological analyses, these results need to be strengthened by additional RCTs of higher quality.
Identifiers
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.