SynthesisJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2023
Efficacy of acupuncture combined with active exercise training in improving pain and function of knee osteoarthritis individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of different doses of platelet-rich plasma injection in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of phototherapy for jaundice in full-term newborns: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Similar efficacy of intra-articular hyaluronic acid injections and other biologically active injections in patients with early stages knee osteoarthritis: a level I meta-analysis.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Electroacupuncture attenuates synovitis in knee osteoarthritis and is associated with modulation of the protein S-TAM (Axl/MerTK)-Rac1 signaling axis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Effect of warm reinforcing acupuncture combined with whole-body vibration training on knee joint function and inflammatory factors in stroke patients with knee osteoarthritis.American journal of translational research · 2026Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Acupuncture Among Patients with Knee Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
- Pain Modulation, Inflammation-Regulatory Mechanisms, and Translational Boundaries of Evidence for Acupuncture-Related Therapies in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Structured Narrative Review.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Correlation analysis between the coronal and sagittal axis angles of both knees and lumbar lordosis in middle-aged and elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Pain Treatment in Primary Care Through Eight Constitution Medicine: A Retrospective Real-World Study from South Korea.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Non-Pharmacological Pain Management for Osteoarthritis: Review Update.Current rheumatology reports · 2025Review
- Acupuncture in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review of Clinical Efficacy and Neuroimmune-Endocrine Mechanisms.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- AI-Assisted Knee Infrared Imaging Based Acupuncture for Treating Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Study Protocol.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with active exercise training in improving pain and function of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) individuals. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang Data, Technology Periodical Database and China Biology Medicine were searched from their inceptions to April 5, 2023. REVIEW
methodsWe analyzed trials of acupuncture combined with active exercise training for KOA. The included studies were of high quality (Jadad ≥ 4) and RCTs. Study selection, data extraction, risk of bias and quality assessment were independently performed by two reviewers. We performed systematic analyses based on different outcome measures, including total efficiency rate, visual analogue scale (VAS), the Western Ontario and Mcmaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), the Lysholm Knee Scale (LKS) and range of motion (ROM). We used Review Manager 5.3 and Stata/MP 14.0 to analyze the data. And it was verified by trial sequence analysis (TSA). If I
resultsFull 11 high-quality studies (Jadad ≥ 4) including 774 KOA individuals were included in this review for meta-analysis. The results showed that acupuncture combined with active exercise training (combined group) was superior to the acupuncture group in improving the total effective rate [RR = 1.13, 95%CI (1.05, 1.22), I
conclusionThe combined effect of all studies showed significant benefits of acupuncture combined with active exercise training in improving the total effective rate, reducing pain, promoting recovery of knee function and expanding range of motion. However, some evaluation indicators are highly subjective and need to be further confirmed by more objective and evidence-based high-quality RCTs in future. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: [PROSPERO], identifier [No. CRD42023425823].
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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.