Trial reportBMC complementary medicine and therapies2024
Enhancing chronic migraine preventive therapy: low-level 810 nm laser acupuncture as an add-on treatment for patients with unsatisfactory pharmacological effect, a pilot single-blind randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Utility of Acupuncture Therapy for Adult Chronic Daily Headache Prophylaxis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of neuromodulation techniques for migraine prophylaxis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of laser acupuncture on osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Acupuncture modulates migraine-related neural and neuroendocrine regulatory pathways.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Review
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLaser acupuncture is a proven non-invasive treatment with effects comparable to traditional acupuncture in different types of headaches, but there is still insufficient evidence for chronic migraine (CM) in adults. We aim to investigate the efficacy and safety of laser acupuncture (LA) as an add-on preventive therapy on CM.
methodsA single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted from January 2022 to November 2023. CM patients with unsatisfactory pharmacological effects were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either LA or sham treatment over a course of 8 sessions spanning 4 weeks. The co-primary outcomes were changes in monthly migraine days (MMD) and acute headache medications usage days per month from baseline. Evaluations were taken at baseline (12 weeks before randomization), at 4th week (treatment completed), 8th week and 12th week from baseline.
resultsA total of 60 patients (30 in each group) were included in the intention-to-treat analyses. Baseline headache characteristics between trial groups were similar. Compared with the sham group, the LA group had a significant reduction in MMD (5.2 vs. 1.5 days at 8th week, p = 0.015; 7.3 vs. 1.8 days at 12th week, p = 0.001), and acute headache medications usage days per month (3.1 vs. 0.4 days at 4th week, p = 0.007; 3.2 vs. 0.0 days at 8th week, p = 0.005; 3.9 vs. 0.0 days at 12th week, p < 0.001). No serious adverse event was observed in both groups.
conclusionsLaser acupuncture was effective in reducing MMD and acute headache medications usage with promising safety. Specifically, the efficacy of LA exhibited a progressively more pronounced effect within the follow-up period. We suggested that LA is a promising add-on preventive therapy for CM, and trials focused on investigating the mechanism of LA's effect and its long-term effects on CM prevention are justified.
trial registrationThe study was retrospectively registered at ISRCTN.org Identifier: ISRCTN11208146 ( https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN11208146 ). The registration date: 19, January, 2024. The date of first participant registration: 04, May, 2022.
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