ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2019
Laser Acupuncture for Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of laser acupuncture for patients with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Lasers in medical science · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of laser acupuncture on osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of invasive laser acupuncture (650 and 830 nm) on knee osteoarthritis: A pilot randomized clinical trial.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Acute effects of a single bout of exercise therapy on knee acoustic emissions in patients with osteoarthritis: a double-blinded, randomized controlled crossover trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Trial
- Photobiomodulation for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: therapeutic effects and molecular mechanism.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Effect of laser acupuncture on pain, range of motion, and function in patellofemoral pain syndrome: a randomised controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Laser Acupuncture for the Pain of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Laser Acupuncture Versus Electroacupuncture for Nonsevere Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Medical acupuncture · 2024Article
- Article
- Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture against Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo provide updated evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness of laser acupuncture for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).
methodsA literature search in 9 databases was conducted from their inception through February 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) written in English that compared active laser acupuncture with placebo in KOA patients were included. Two authors independently extracted data from these trials. Meta-analysis software was used to analyze the data. Included studies were assessed in terms of the follow-up period, the methodological quality, and appropriateness of their technical features.
resultsOf 357 studies, seven RCTs (totaling 395 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The short-term outcomes showed that laser acupuncture offered significant pain relief over placebo when assessed by the 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS) pain score (
conclusionsOur findings indicate that laser acupuncture can effectively reduce knee pain for patients with KOA at short term when appropriate technical features are applied, but the effect likely fades away during the subsequent follow-up period.
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.