ReviewFrontiers in psychiatry2018
How Placebo Needles Differ From Placebo Pills?
Review in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 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
33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- How effective is acupuncture in treating hot flashes in breast cancer patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Combining various acupuncture therapies with multimodal analgesia to enhance postoperative pain management following total knee arthroplasty: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Electroacupuncture for treating cancer-related insomnia: a multicenter, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled, pilot clinical trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2022Trial
- Effects of Acupuncture on Cardiac Remodeling in Patients with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Patient- and Assessor-Blinded Pilot Trial and Its Implications for Future Research.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Trial
- Acupuncture in persons with an increased stress level-Results from a randomized-controlled pilot trial.PloS one · 2020Trial
- Acupuncture for patients with Cancer in a Japanese palliative care team: A prospective case series study.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- Phase-dependent oscillatory dynamics during needle retention and withdrawal: a comparison of penetrating and non-penetrating acupuncture.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Beyond Needling: Integrating a Bayesian Brain Model into Acupuncture Treatment.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Three-needle of regulating the mind combined with umbilical needle intervention for cervical vertigo with deficiency of qi and blood-A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Acupuncture effects on emotional reactivity of youth with self-reported depressive symptoms.Psychoradiology · 2025Article
- Effect and clinical mechanism exploration of acupuncture intervention for chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) in triple-negative breast cancer: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Placebo and nocebo effect in pain.Handbook of clinical neurology · 2025Review
- Fire Needle Therapy for Nocturnal Leg Cramps in Older Adults: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Pilot Trial Protocol.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Subcutaneous injections of dextrose in musculoskeletal pain, a potential therapeutic intervention: scoping review.Pain management · 2024Article
- Article
- A randomized controlled trial of acupuncture and receptive music therapy for sleep disorders in the elderly-ELAMUS: study protocol.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Using the right design controls for acupuncture trials: Methodological rigor and validity in research.Integrative medicine research · 2024Article
- ACURATE: A guide for reporting sham controls in trials using acupuncture.Integrative medicine research · 2023Article
- Descriptions of sham acupuncture in randomised controlled trials: a critical review of the literature.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Review
- Effect of acupuncture in the acute phase of intracerebral hemorrhage on the prognosis and serum BDNF: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Because acupuncture treatment is defined by the process of needles penetrating the body, placebo needles were originally developed with non-penetrating mechanisms. However, whether placebo needles are valid controls in acupuncture research is subject of an ongoing debate. The present review provides an overview of the characteristics of placebo needles and how they differ from placebo pills in two aspects: (1) physiological response and (2) blinding efficacy. We argue that placebo needles elicit physiological responses similar to real acupuncture and therefore provide similar clinical efficacy. We also demonstrate that this efficacy is further supported by ineffective blinding (even in acupuncture-naïve patients) which may lead to opposite guesses that will further enhances efficacy, as compared to no-treatment, e.g., with waiting list controls. Additionally, the manner in which placebo needles can exhibit therapeutic effects relative to placebo pills include enhanced touch sensations, direct stimulation of the somatosensory system and activation of multiple brain systems. We finally discuss alternative control strategies for the placebo effects in acupuncture therapy.
Indexed as
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.