ReviewPain research & management2026
Mapping the Knowledge Landscape of Acupuncture for Primary Headaches: A Bibliometric Analysis From 2005 to 2025.
Review in Pain research & management, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Mapping the Knowledge Landscape of Acupuncture for Primary Headaches: A Bibliometric Analysis From 2005 to 2025.Pain research & management · 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
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo provide an updated bibliometric overview of the research landscape, hotspots, and emerging trends of acupuncture for primary headaches (PH).
methodsPublications related to acupuncture for PH were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) for the period from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2025. Only English-language articles and reviews were included. After manual screening based on title, abstract, publication year, document type, language, and topic relevance, 286 eligible publications were included. Bibliometric analyses and visualizations were performed using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and Microsoft Excel.
resultsThe annual number of publications showed an overall upward trend, particularly after 2018. China was the leading contributor in terms of publication output and collaborative activity, followed by Germany, Italy, and the United States. Collaboration networks were identifiable at the country, institution, and author levels, although they remained concentrated among a limited number of leading countries and core research groups. The intellectual base of the field was mainly shaped by randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and evidence syntheses. Thematic analyses indicated that research was primarily centered on migraine, prophylaxis, efficacy, and headache-related clinical outcomes. Tension-type headache was also represented, whereas cluster headache and other less-studied PH subtypes received comparatively limited attention. Mechanism-related themes, including functional connectivity, neuroimaging, and trigeminocervical mechanisms, have emerged in recent years but remain less developed than the clinical literature.
conclusionResearch on acupuncture for PH has become increasingly productive, structured, and clinically evidence-oriented over the past 2 decades. However, the field remains characterized by thematic concentration, selective collaboration, and relatively limited mechanistic depth. Future studies should place greater emphasis on underrepresented PH subtypes, broader interdisciplinary collaboration, and more rigorous translational and mechanistic investigation.
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.