Acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain: A meta-analysis and meta-regression of sham-controlled randomized clinical trials
Yuan QL, Wang P, Liu L, et al. · Scientific Reports · 2016 July 29
DOI 10.1038/srep30675
Objective
The aims of this systematic review were to study the analgesic effect of real acupuncture and to explore whether sham acupuncture (SA) type is related to the estimated effect of real acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain.
Conclusions
Our review provided low-quality evidence that acupuncture has a moderate effect (approximately a 12-point pain reduction on the VAS 100 mm) on relieving pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders. Acupuncture was more effective than SA at relieving pain caused by chronic NP (high-level evidence), SP (high), chronic LBP (moderate), MP (moderate), and OA (low). There was no difference between groups for FM (moderate). There was not enough evidence for AP, RA, acute NP, and acute LBP. The type of SA used did not seem to be related to the estimated effect of real acupuncture.
Critical Appraisal
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Insights
Our meta-analysis found that, overall, acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture in terms of pain relief and disability reduction for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.
Consistent with our current report, some previous systematic reviews have also found real acupuncture to be superior to sham acupuncture for neck pain, low back pain, osteoarthritis and myofascial pain. Two newly published meta-analyses found that real acupuncture had a more favorable effect than sham acupuncture for low back pain. Our finding that real acupuncture was more effective than sham acupuncture for neck pain and low back pain was also verified by a more recent systematic review.
