ReviewJournal of pain research2026
Acupuncture versus Sham Acupuncture for Migraine without Aura: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
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
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Migraine without aura is a disabling disorder for which acupuncture is commonly used as a preventive therapy. Sham-controlled randomized trials provide a more rigorous estimate of acupuncture-specific effects than comparisons with usual care. We evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture in adults with migraine without aura. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized sham-controlled trials. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Wanfang were searched through 9 February 2026. The primary outcome was monthly migraine days (MMD). Secondary outcomes included migraine-specific quality of life (MSQ), pain intensity, and headache impact (HIT-6). Continuous outcomes were pooled as standardized mean differences (Hedges' g) using random-effects REML models with Hartung-Knapp adjustment. Certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE. Results: Eight randomized trials involving 659 participants met the inclusion criteria. Compared with sham acupuncture, acupuncture reduced MMD (g = 0.46, 95% CI 0.27-0.64; I Conclusion: Acupuncture was associated with reductions in migraine frequency and pain intensity compared with sham procedures in adults with migraine without aura. However, evidence certainty ranged from low to very low, and findings for quality of life and headache impact remain uncertain. Larger multicenter trials with standardized sham procedures and longer follow-up are needed. Trial Registration: The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420261308589).
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