SynthesisPain research & management2022
Efficacy and Safety of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation for Postoperative Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Pain research & management, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 8 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
36 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for postoperative nausea, vomiting and pain in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Peripheral nerve stimulation for lower-limb postoperative recovery: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PsyCh journal · 2025Pooled it
- The healing power of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: a systematic review on its effects after breast surgery.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Influence of acupuncture and moxibustion on gastrointestinal function and adverse events in gastric cancer patients after surgery and chemotherapy: a meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on the quality of postoperative recovery: a meta-analysis.BMC anesthesiology · 2024Pooled it
- Research hotspots and trends of acupoint and pain based on PubMed: a bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of recorded mother's voice on emergence delirium in pediatric patients: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Jornal de pediatriaPooled it
- Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Multidimensional Pain Outcomes After Thoracic Surgery: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Trial
- Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Reduces Postoperative Abdominal Pain after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: A Single-Center, Prospective, and Randomized Controlled Trial.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2026Trial
- Efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation and acupressure in alleviating chemotherapy-related adverse reactions in female patients with breast cancer: a randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Trial
- Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS) Facilitates Postoperative Recovery in Day Lung Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Applied During the Post-Anesthesia Recovery Period in Improving Postoperative Recovery Quality After Gynecological Laparoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2025Trial
- Effects of electroacupuncture on the incidence of postoperative supraventricular arrhythmia and sleep quality in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Trial
- Effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on remifentanil dosage during craniotomy aneurysm clipping: a prospective, randomized controlled study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Trial
- Intraoperative Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Attenuates Postoperative Mechanical Pain Sensitization and Visceral Pain After Elective Cesarean Delivery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Advances in therapy · 2026Article
- Article
- Effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on post-anesthetic shivering: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation to Prevent Ipsilateral Shoulder Pain After Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on body temperature, hemodynamic responses, and recovery in patients undergoing open spinal surgery.American journal of translational research · 2026Article
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 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) in treating post-operative pain. Methods: This meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021286753). We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about TEAS in treating postoperative pain that were published before November 2021. The primary outcome was visual analogue scale (VAS) within 24 h after surgery. The secondary outcomes included postoperative opioid analgesic drug consumption and the occurrence of adverse reactions within the postoperative 24-72 h. Adverse reactions included dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Continuous variables were analyzed using mean difference (MDs) or standardized mean difference (SMDs) and 95% CIs. Relative risk (RR) and 95% CI were used for dichotomous data. The data were pooled and analyzed by RevMan 5.4 and STATA15.0 software. Results: Seventeen trials with 1375 participants were included. The current results suggested that application of TEAS showed obvious superiority in reducing VAS scores (SMD = -1.51, 95% CI = -2.20∼-0.82, I2 = 96%). Subgroup analysis was performed according to open surgery and minimally invasive surgery. VAS scores were decreased after surgery at 24 h (SMD = -0.84, 95% CI = -1.07∼-0.6, I2 = 96%; SMD = -0.88, 95% CI = -1.02∼-0.75, I2 = 96%). The incidence of postoperative dizziness and nausea and vomiting was significantly lower in the TEAS group within postoperative 24-72 h (RR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.34∼0.68, I2 = 0%; RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.44∼1.01, I2 = 69%; and RR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.24∼1.00, I2 = 51%). Postoperative opioid analgesics were also reduced in the TEAS group within 72 h after surgery (SMD = -2.10, 95% CI = -3.37∼-0.82, I2 = 96%). Conclusions: TEAS can reduce postoperative pain as well as the incidence of dizziness, nausea, and vomiting and the number of analgesics used after surgery. TEAS is a reasonable modality to incorporate into a multimodal management approach for postoperative pain.
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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.