ArticleGlobal spine journal2021
Can Acupuncture Improve Chronic Spinal Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Article in Global spine journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupuncture in chronic aspecific low back pain: a Bayesian network meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2022Pooled it
- Article
- Effect of acupuncture and massage on adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and pain severity.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Utilization of Invasive Pain Treatment Procedures Among Veterans with Chronic Pain Following Use of Whole Health Services and Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Article
- The Efficacy of Neuromodulation Interventions for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Effect of warm needle therapy guided by ultrasound on pain relief and improvement of physical function in patients with knee osteoarthritis.American journal of translational research · 2024Article
- Novel Therapies for Centralized Pain: a Brief Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2022Review
- The CX-DZ-II intelligent electronic stimulator for neck pain caused by cervical spondylosis: A two-center, randomized, controlled, and non-inferiority trial.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Needling Interventions for Sciatica: Choosing Methods Based on Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapeutics: An Overview of the Basics and Clinical Applications.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Overall Reporting Descriptions of Acupuncture for Chronic Pain in Randomized Controlled Trials in English Journals.Journal of pain research · 2021Review
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 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designSystematic review and meta-analysis.
objectiveTo investigate the effect and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of chronic spinal pain.
methodsMEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science, the WHO Clinical Trial Registry, and the US National Library of Medicine clinical trial registry were searched from January 1, 2000, to November 1, 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving patients with chronic spinal pain treated by acupuncture versus sham acupuncture, no treatment, or another treatment were included.
resultsData was extracted from 22 RCTs including 2588 patients. Pooled analysis revealed that acupuncture can reduce chronic spinal pain compared to sham acupuncture (weighted mean difference [WMD] -12.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] -15.86 to -8.24), mediation control (WMD -18.27, 95% CI -28.18 to -8.37), usual care control (WMD -9.57, 95% CI -13.48 to -9.44), and no treatment control (WMD -17.10, 95% CI -24.83 to -9.37). In terms of functional disability, acupuncture can improve physical function at immediate-term follow-up (standardized mean difference [SMD] -1.74, 95% CI -2.04 to -1.44), short-term follow-up (SMD -0.89, 95% CI -1.15 to -0.62), and long-term follow-up (SMD -1.25, 95% CI -1.48 to -1.03).
conclusionIn summary, compared to no treatment, sham acupuncture, or conventional therapy such as medication, massage, and physical exercise, acupuncture has a significantly superior effect on the reduction in chronic spinal pain and function improvement. Acupuncture might be an effective treatment for patients with chronic spinal pain and it is a safe 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.