ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2022
Effects of Acupuncture on Neuropathic Pain Induced by Spinal Cord Injury: 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. It is linked to trial NCT06893172 (Effectiveness of Warm Acupuncture for Postherpetic Neuralgia in the Context of the Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis Syndrome), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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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.
Effectiveness of Warm Acupuncture for Postherpetic Neuralgia in the Context of the Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis Syndrome: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Exosome Cargo Molecules and NLRP3/BDNF: Clinical and Preclinical Evidence for Acupuncture-Mediated Spinal Cord Injury Recovery.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Electroacupuncture for girdle sensation following spinal cord injury as a false localizing sign: a case series.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Evaluation of acupuncture on pain intensity and sleep quality in patients with neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury.American journal of translational research · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture promotes the repair of the damaged spinal cord in mice by mediating neurocan-perineuronal net.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Article
- Research progress on acupuncture treatment in central nervous system diseases based on NLRP3 inflammasome in animal models.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- EA participates in pain transition through regulating KCC2 expression by BDNF-TrkB in the spinal cord dorsal horn of male rats.Neurobiology of pain (Cambridge, Mass.)Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Neuropathic pain is a commonly seen symptom and one of the most intractable comorbidities following spinal cord injury (SCI). Acupuncture has been widely used for neuropathic pain after SCI in clinical settings. There is no systematic review or meta-analysis evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of SCI-induced neuropathic pain. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of acupuncture on SCI-induced neuropathic pain. Methods: Seven databases were comprehensively searched, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Web of Science, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), the Wanfang Database, and the Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP) from their inception to 30 September 2021. Two independent reviewers evaluated the eligibility of the data retrieved based on the pre-established eligibility criteria and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. The outcome indexes in this study included the visual analogue scale, the numeric rating scale, the present pain intensity, and the pain region index. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were also performed to specifically evaluate the intervention effects. In addition, publication bias was analyzed. Results: Six randomized controlled trials (145 participants in the experimental groups and 141 participants in the control groups) were identified that evaluated the application of acupuncture for neuropathic pain after SCI and were included in this study. The results of our study revealed that acupuncture had a positive effect on the pain severity (standardized mean difference (SMD): -1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): -2.23; -0.57), the present pain intensity (MD = -0.61, 95% CIs = -0.98; -0.23), and the pain region index (MD = -3.04, 95% CI = -3.98; -2.11). In addition, sensitivity analyses showed that these results were robust and stable. Subgroup analyses indicated that electroacupuncture (EA) had better effects on SCI-induced neuropathic pain. However, a publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Available evidence appears to suggest that acupuncture may have a role in SCI-induced neuropathic pain management, but this remains to be determined.
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Registered trials
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