ReviewCureus2025
Efficacy of Musculoskeletal Manipulation for Endoscopic Discomfort in Patients Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Colonoscopy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) and colonoscopy often experience discomfort, including anxiety, abdominal pain, and bloating. The efficacy of musculoskeletal manipulation (e.g., massage) for these symptoms remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify its efficacy in patients undergoing UGIE and colonoscopy. We searched major electronic databases (MEDLINE (PubMed), CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PEDro) and trial registries up to July 17, 2025, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Meta-analyses employed a random-effects model, and risk of bias was formally assessed. Four trials were included. Two trials on reflexology showed a non-significant effect on pre-procedural anxiety, with the evidence being highly variable and leading to very low certainty findings. Two trials on abdominal massage following colonoscopy suggested a possible benefit for reduced abdominal pain, but this finding was limited by substantial heterogeneity. The overall evidence for musculoskeletal manipulation on anxiety, abdominal pain, and bloating is generally low or very low certainty due to imprecision and high risk of bias. While the overall evidence is insufficient for routine clinical recommendations, future high-quality, large-scale trials that standardize outcome assessments are essential to establish definitive conclusions. This review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD420251104522).
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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.