ReviewJournal of pain research2025
Effectiveness of Combination of Thunder Fire Moxibustion with Other Forms of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Osteoarthritis Knee: A Meta-Analysis.
Review in Journal of pain research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Knee osteoarthritis rehabilitation: an integrated framework of exercise, nutrition, biomechanics, and physical therapist guidance-a narrative review.European journal of medical research · 2025Review
- Does Thunder-Fire Moxibustion Really Augment Therapeutic Efficacy in Knee Osteoarthritis? Methodological Critique of A Recent Pairwise Meta-Analysis [Letter].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
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Given the prevalence of osteoarthritis and the growing interest in alternative treatments, there is a need to provide a comprehensive evaluation of this integrated TCM approach. Reviews are required to understand the potential benefits and safety of the combination therapy compared to conventional treatments. Hence, this meta-analysis investigates the effectiveness of combining Thunder Fire Moxibustion with other Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) modalities, specifically acupuncture and herbal formulas, in treating knee osteoarthritis. Methods: A comprehensive literature search across databases like PubMed Central, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and others was conducted. The inclusion criteria focused on randomized controlled trials involving patients with knee osteoarthritis, comparing the effectiveness of Thunder Fire Moxibustion combined with other TCM modalities against standard care. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used for bias assessment, and a random-effects inverse-variance model for meta-analysis. Results: Out of 1467 records, 7 studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled Risk Ratio (RR) for total effective rate was 1.119, indicating a significant effect of the combined TCM treatment. Subgroup analysis showed a pooled RR of 1.130 for acupuncture combinations and 1.103 for herbal TCM combinations. The incidence of adverse reactions had a non-significant pooled RR of 0.572. The GRADE assessment indicated a low overall quality of evidence due to risks of bias and publication bias. Conclusion: The combination of Thunder Fire Moxibustion with other TCM modalities shows potential effectiveness in treating knee osteoarthritis, with minimal adverse reactions. However, the low quality of evidence suggests a need for more rigorous studies to confirm these findings.
Indexed as
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.