ReviewJournal of pain research2026
Progress in the Treatment of Adhesive Capsulitis with External Therapies of Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Review.
Review in Journal of pain research, 2026. 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
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Adhesive capsulitis (AC), commonly known as frozen shoulder, is a common shoulder disorder featured by joint capsule contracture, pain, stiffness, and dysfunction. It has a prolonged course and a high recurrence tendency, which seriously impairs patients' quality of life and imposes a certain social and economic burden. At present, western medicine for AC has certain limitations, such as single intervention modality, potential risks of invasive procedures, obvious adverse reactions and a high long-term recurrence rate. External therapies of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are safe, effective, and minimally invasive with few adverse reactions. This review systematically summarizes clinical research and mechanisms of acupuncture, tuina (massage), topical Chinese herbal therapy, and combined external TCM therapies for AC. Key findings show that these therapies effectively relieve shoulder pain, improve range of motion, inhibit inflammation, and reduce joint capsule fibrosis via multi‑target regulation. Combined TCM external therapies yield better efficacy than single modalities. However, standardization of manipulations and high‑quality evidence remain insufficient. Given the challenges for systematic review posed by the heterogeneity of TCM external treatment techniques and the complexity of their potential mechanisms, this study critically summarizes the mechanistic basis and symptom-improving efficacy of current TCM external therapies for AC, aiming to construct a comprehensive theoretical framework, provide guidance for future related research, and optimize the standardized clinical application of TCM external therapies in the management of AC.
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.