ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2021
A Meta-Analysis: Whether Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Improves Dysfunction Caused by Stroke with Lower Limb Spasticity.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on post-stroke limb spasticity.Journal of neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of rTMS in treating functional impairment in post-stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Pooled it
- Global research trends in transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke (1994-2023): promising, yet requiring further practice.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Improving Dysphagia After Stroke: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Upper Limb Motor Function and Serum Lipid Metabolomics in Patients With Ischemic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Study.Brain and behavior · 2025Trial
- Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Upper and Lower Limb Motor Function and Spasticity After Stroke: A Meta-Analysis.Brain & NeuroRehabilitation · 2025Article
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation: insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuroinflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Current evidence, clinical applications, and future directions of transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for ischemic stroke.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- The Updated Role of Transcranial Ultrasound Neuromodulation in Ischemic Stroke: From Clinical and Basic Research.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2022Review
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the primary motor cortex in stroke survivors-more than motor rehabilitation: A mini-review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Review
- Lesions causing post-stroke spasticity localize to a common brain network.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Immediate and short-term effects of continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation over contralesional premotor area on post-stroke spasticity in patients with severe hemiplegia: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- The effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation in ameliorating limb motor function disorders after stroke: an umbrella review.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in improving lower limb spasticity after stroke.
methodsThe PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine (CBM) disc, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and Wanfang databases were searched online from their inception to May 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for lower extremity spasticity after stroke. Valid data were extracted from the included literature, and the quality evaluation was conducted with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions along with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale (PE-Dro scale). The data that met the quality requirements were systematically analysed using Review Manager 5.4 software.
resultsA total of 554 patients from seven articles (nine studies) were quantitatively analysed. Outcomes included the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Lower Extremity (FMA-LE), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and Timed Up and Go (TUG), measured as the effect of rTMS compared with controls conditions after treatment. The systematic review showed that rTMS reduced MAS and increased MBI scores, respectively (SMD = -0.24, 95% CI [-0.45, -0.03],
conclusionsrTMS was effective in improving spasticity and activities of daily living. LF-rTMS has positive clinical effects on enhancing motor function in patients who experience lower extremity spasticity after stroke. To better validate the above conclusions, more multicentre, high-quality, and double-blind randomized controlled trials are needed.
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.