ReviewIntegrative medicine research2023
Acupuncture as an alternative or in addition to conventional treatment for chronic non-specific low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Integrative medicine research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy for patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical efficacy of acupuncture therapy combined with core muscle exercises in treating patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Research hotspots and frontiers in non-specific low back pain: a bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Baseline sample characteristics for the BackInAction pragmatic trial of acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Trial
- Therapeutic mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for acute pain in the emergency department.Integrative medicine research · 2026Review
- Musculoskeletal Ultrasound-Guided Micro-Needle-Knife Intervention at the Deep Fascial versus Superficial Fascial Layers in Lateral Epicondylitis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Protocol for a clinical practice guideline on acupuncture for chronic non-specific low back pain.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Dose-Response Relationship Between Acupuncture Parameters and Pain Reduction in Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Article
- Update on Non-surgical Treatments for Lumbar Pain.Revista brasileira de ortopedia · 2025Article
- [Update on Non-surgical Treatments for Lumbar Pain].Revista brasileira de ortopedia · 2025Article
- Cochrane reviews of acupuncture are dated, do not account for the specific effects of sham controls and likely underestimate the efficacy of acupuncture therapy.Integrative medicine research · 2025Review
- The Use of Medical Hypnosis to Prevent and Treat Acute and Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Pain for pain: the benefits and challenges of BDSM participation for people with chronic pain - An exploratory study.Psychology and sexuality · 2025Article
- Chronic low back pain management: clinical and psychophysiological outcomes of multimodal approaches-a randomised controlled trial on yoga and mindfulness.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Utilization of Reimbursed Acupuncture Therapy for Low Back Pain.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- NADA Ear Acupuncture and Medical Acupuncture for Pain- and Health-Related Quality of Life among Older Patients with Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Prospective Clinical Trial.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Drug Selection and Posology, Optimal Therapies and Risk/Benefit Assessment in Medicine: The Paradigm of Iron-Chelating Drugs.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Conventional therapies (CTs), pharmacological (PH) and non-pharmacological (NPH), do not always achieve benefits in the treatment of chronic low back pain (CLBP). We assessed efficacy and safety of acupuncture for CLBP as alternative or addition to CT. Methods: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture alone or in combination with CT to CT. We searched Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase up to May 2022. We assessed risk of bias with the original Cochrane tool and GRADE certainty of evidence. Results were pooled through meta-analysis. Results: Ten RCTs (2122 participants) were included comparing acupuncture versus CT and 4 RCTs (374 participants) were comparing acupuncture plus CT to CT alone. In terms of comparing acupuncture with NPH or PH, no differences were found for pain and disability. Comparing acupuncture with PH and NPH combined, pain and disability were reduced (SMD=-0.50, 95% CI -0.62 to -0.37; SMD=-0.71, 95% CI -1.17 to -0.24). Comparing acupuncture plus NPH with NPH alone, pain and disability were reduced (SMD=-0.70, 95% CI -0.94 to -0.46; SMD=-0.95, 95% CI -1.36 to -0.54). Comparing acupuncture plus PH with PH alone, pain and disability were reduced (MD=-0.21, 95% CI -433.28 to -10.42; MD=-3.1, 95% CI -4.87 to -1.83). Comparing acupuncture plus combined treatment versus combined treatment alone, no differences were found in pain, while disability was reduced (MD=-3.40 95% CI -5.17 to -1.63). No studies assessed adverse event. Certainty of evidence ranged from moderate to very low. Conclusions: We are uncertain whether acupuncture is more effective and safer than CT. In the comparisons without estimates' imprecision, acupuncture showed promising results. Acupuncture could be an option based on patients' preferences.
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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.