ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2022
Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture for Pain Control in Herpes Zoster: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Research trends of acupuncture therapy for painful peripheral nervous system diseases from 2004 to 2023: a bibliometric and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Integrated Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine Approaches for Herpes Zoster and Post-Herpetic Neuralgia: A Narrative Review.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Article
- A bibliometric analysis and visualization of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy for herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia.Skin research and technology : official journal of International Society for Bioengineering and the Skin (ISBS) [and] International Society for Digital Imaging of Skin (ISDIS) [and] International Society for Skin Imaging (ISSI) · 2024Article
- Role of microglia in diabetic neuropathic pain.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Review
- Review
- Hotspots and Trends in Research on Treating Pain with Electroacupuncture: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis from 1994 to 2022.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
- Effects of Intradermal Botulinum Toxin Injections on Herpes Zoster Related Neuralgia.Infection and drug resistance · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Herpes zoster is caused by the reactivation of the latent varicella-zoster virus, which leads to acute pain that may disturb routine activities and affect patients' quality of life. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been commonly used for treating herpetic pain in clinical treatment. However, no relevant studies have been performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of EA for acute control in herpetic neuralgia patients. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to address the deficiencies of the current research. Methods: Three English (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) and four Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM), Wan-fang database, and the Chinese Scientific Journals Full-text Database (VIP)) were comprehensively searched from inception to 31 December 2021. Two independent reviewers evaluated the retrieved data based on the eligibility criteria in advance. In addition, the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Outcome indexes in this study included the visual analog scale, the time to cessation of pustules, the time to scabs, the time to rash healing, adverse reactions, and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were also performed to evaluate the intervention effect specifically. In addition, publication bias was analyzed. Results: Six randomized controlled trials (167 participants in the experimental groups and 174 participants in the control groups) were identified as reporting the application of EA for acute herpes zoster pain and were included in this study. The results from our meta-analysis revealed that EA was superior to control treatment according to visual analog scale, the time of rash healing, and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia. However, in terms of the time to cessation of pustules, scabs, and adverse reactions, the results showed that EA compared with the control group showed no significant difference. In addition, subgroup analyses indicated that 2/100 Hz-EA has more significant effects on herpetic pain. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the results of EA for acute pain control and the rash healing time in herpetic neuralgia patients were stable. However, a publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis results showed that EA could offer certain advantages in treating acute pain in herpetic neuralgia patients. However, small sample sizes, heterogeneity in study design, and variable methodological quality weaken these inferences. In addition, weak evidence was found for the safety of EA.
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.