ArticlePain research & management
Quality of Evidence Supporting the Role of Acupuncture for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Article in Pain research & management. 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.
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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of acupuncture on quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of stem cell therapy for diabetic foot: Clinical evidence from meta-analyses.International wound journal · 2024Pooled it
- Quality of evidence supporting the role of probiotics for rheumatoid arthritis: an overview of systematic reviews.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia with probiotics: an overview of systematic reviews.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: an overview of overlapping systematic reviews.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Effects and Mechanisms of Acupuncture on Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Self-administered active versus sham acupressure for diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome: a nurse-led randomized clinical trial.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture Improving Intestinal Barrier Function in Rats with Irritable Bowel Syndrome Through Regulating Aquaporins.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2024Article
- RETRACTED: Reliability of evidence supporting the role of electrical stimulation in the treatment of pressure ulcers.International wound journal · 2024Article
- RETRACTED: Clinical effects of acupuncture for the treatment of pressure ulcers: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.International wound journal · 2024Article
- Quality of evidence supporting the role of acupuncture for breast cancer-related lymphoedema: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2023Review
- Probiotics for functional constipation in children: an overview of overlapping systematic reviews.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- Scientific Evidence of Acupuncture for Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Article
- Efficacy of different courses of acupuncture for diarrhea irritable bowel syndrome: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2023Article
- Maintenance of Intestinal Homeostasis in Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome by Electroacupuncture Through Submucosal Enteric Glial Cell-Derived S-Nitrosoglutathione.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- The Effects of Electroacupuncture as an Adjunct Therapy on Poststroke Aphasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Balance Function in Stroke Patients: An Overview of Systematic Review.Neural plasticity · 2022Review
- Treatment of the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease with Chinese Herbal Medicine (BanxiaXiexin Decoction): Evidence from Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Clinical Studies of Acupuncture for Cancer Pain.Integrative cancer therapiesReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo systematically collate, appraise, and synthesize the current evidence on acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
methodsSystematic reviews (SRs)/meta-analyses (MAs) of acupuncture for IBS were searched in eight databases. For quality evaluation of the enrolled studies, Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2) was used for methodological quality, Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) for reporting quality, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) for evidence quality.
resultsTen studies were included in our review. According to AMSTAR-2, only one study met all the criteria and was rated as high methodological quality, and the rest were rated as low or very low methodological quality. According to the PRISMA checklist, most of the items were fully reported, with the exception of Q5 (protocol and registration), Q8 (search), and Q27 (funding). With the GRADE system, no outcome measure was rated as high quality.
conclusionsAcupuncture may be a promising therapy for IBS. However, this conclusion must be treated with caution since the quality of SRs/MAs providing evidence is generally low.
Indexed as
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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.