Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30142834›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2018

Acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Yang Wang, Wang Li, Weina Peng, Jing Zhou, Zhishun Liu

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04594226 (Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Therapy in Patients With Postherpetic Neuralgia), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
2.6field-weighted citation impact, top 10% 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.

NCT04594226 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Efficacy of Electroacupuncture Therapy in Patients With Postherpetic Neuralgia: a Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe Third Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical UniversityRan2020 to 2021Enrolled132ConditionsPostherpetic NeuralgiaArmsEA combined with medication, Medication
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. [StagingZhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2026
    Review
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  20. Neuropathic Pain in the Elderly.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021
    Review
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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Yang WangAcupuncture Department, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Acupuncture Department, Beijing Hospital of Massage, Beijing, China.
Wang Li
Weina Peng
Jing Zhou
Zhishun Liu
China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences · CNGuang’anmen Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcupuncture is widely used for postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in China but its effect is unclear. We aim to evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture for PHN.

methodsThe Cochrane Skin Group Trials Register, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the gray literature were searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture alone versus no treatment/another active therapy/sham acupuncture, or comparing acupuncture with another active therapy versus the same active therapy were included.

resultsSeven RCTs comparing acupuncture versus pharmacologic therapy were included. Meta-analysis was conducted for acupuncture's effect on PHN evaluating by pain intensity. Results from 2 RCTs showed that compared with pharmacologic therapy, acupuncture was better in decreasing the pain intensity measured by visual analog scale score (mean difference: 1.80, 95% confidence interval 1.72-1.87; P < .001). The limitations of the study are as follows: only trials comparing acupuncture versus pharmacologic therapy were included and all of the included trials were performed in China.

conclusionThere was not enough evidence to suggest that acupuncture was superior to pharmacologic therapy in improving global impression or life quality. No adverse effects about acupuncture were reported. In all, acupuncture is safe and might be effective in pain relieving for patients with PHN. Given the low quality of included studies, the results are not conclusive and more large-scale RCTs with high quality are needed.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuralgia, PostherpeticPain ManagementQuality of LifeTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID30142834
PMCPMC6113033
OpenAlexW2888116280

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.