Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29986901›Full record

SynthesisAcupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society2018

Warm needle acupuncture in primary osteoporosis management: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ding Luo, Yue Liu, Yanan Wu, Rui Ma, Lin Wang, Ronghe Gu, Wenbin Fu

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  7. Article
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  13. The effect of warm needle moxibustion on lumbar disc herniation.American journal of translational research · 2021
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  17. Review
  18. Acupuncture for Primary Osteoporosis: Evidence, Potential Treatment Prescriptions, and Mechanisms.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Ding LuoSecond Clinical Department, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.ORCID 0000-0001-5265-9200
Yue LiuSecond Clinical Department, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Yanan WuSecond Clinical Department, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Rui MaSecond Clinical Department, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Lin WangSecond Clinical Department, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Ronghe GuOrthopedics Department, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Wenbin FuSecond Clinical Department, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CNGuangzhou University of Chinese Medicine · CNFirst Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWarm needle acupuncture (WNA) is commonly used in primary osteoporosis (OP) management in China. The evidence of its effectiveness needs to be systematically reviewed.

objectiveThe aim of the meta-analysis was to evaluate whether using WNA alone or combined with conventional medicine benefits primary OP.

methodsPubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register, Medline, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and VIP databases were searched from their inception through 30 June 2016. RCTs applying WNA independently or as an adjunct to conventional medicine, compared with conventional medicine alone, were included. Primary outcomes were bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar vertebrae, femoral neck, Ward's triangle and greater trochanter. The secondary outcome was chronic pain measured by VAS score. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan V.5.3 software.

resultsNine RCTs involving 572 participants were included. When WNA was used as an adjunct to conventional medicine, meta-analysis revealed a statistical difference in favour of increasing BMD of the lumbar vertebrae (mean difference (MD)=0.06, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.08, P<0.001). WNA increased BMD of the femoral neck (MD 0.14, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.21, P<0.001) and greater trochanter (MD 0.09, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.15, P<0.001) when used alone, and additionally decreased VAS scores (MD=-1.10, 95% CI -1.14 to -1.06, P<0.001) when used as an adjunct to conventional medicine. However, the safety of WNA was not specifically reported.

conclusionsWNA may have beneficial effects on BMD and VAS scores of patients with primary OP. However, all included trials were at high risk of bias and of low quality. Further rigorous studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of WNA for primary OP treatment.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyBone DensityHumansNeedlesOsteoporosisRandomized Controlled Trials as Topicacupuncturemeta-analysisprimary osteoporosissystematic reviewwarm needle acupuncture

Identifiers

PMID29986901
PMCPMC6089200
OpenAlexW2856467788

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.