Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acupuncture/electroacupuncture, alone or combined with other interventions, on pain intensity, pain-related disability, and strength in lateral epicondylalgia (LE) of musculoskeletal origin. ⋯ Low-level evidence suggests positive effects of acupuncture, but not electroacupuncture, for pain, related-disability, and strength, in LE of musculoskeletal origin, in the short term.
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To compare the effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for pain control in knee osteoarthritis (KOA). ⋯ The present analysis indicated that both EA and TENS exert significant pain relieving effects in KOA. Among the four treatments, H-TENS was found to be the optimal treatment choice for the management of KOA pain in the short-term, and EA the second best treatment option. Given that the application of TENS is recommended by various international guidelines for the treatment of KOA, EA may also represent a potentially effective non-pharmacologic therapy.
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Meta Analysis
Identifying patients with chronic pain who respond to acupuncture: results from an individual patient data meta-analysis.
In a recent individual patient data meta-analysis, acupuncture was found to be superior to sham and non-sham controls in patients with chronic pain. It has been suggested that a subgroup of patients has an exceptional response to acupuncture. We hypothesized the presence of exceptional acupuncture responders would lead to a different distribution of pain scores in acupuncture versus control groups, with the former being skewed to the right. ⋯ We did not find evidence to support the notion that there are exceptional acupuncture responders. The challenge remains to identify features of chronic pain patients that can be used to distinguish those that have a good response to acupuncture treatment.
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Meta Analysis
Warm needle acupuncture in primary osteoporosis management: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Warm needle acupuncture (WNA) is commonly used in primary osteoporosis (OP) management in China. The evidence of its effectiveness needs to be systematically reviewed. ⋯ WNA may have beneficial effects on BMD and VAS scores of patients with primary OP. However, all included trials were at high risk of bias and of low quality. Further rigorous studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of WNA for primary OP treatment.
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Review Meta Analysis
Low-level laser therapy for chronic non-specific low back pain: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
The efficacy of low-level laser treatment (LLLT) for chronic back pain remains controversial due to insufficient trial data. We aimed to conduct an updated review to determine if LLLT (including laser acupuncture) has specific benefits in chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP). ⋯ We demonstrated moderate quality of evidence (GRADE) to support a clinically important benefit in LLLT for CNLBP in the short term, which was only seen following higher laser dose interventions and in participants with a shorter duration of back pain. Rigorously blinded trials using appropriate laser dosage would provide greater certainty around this conclusion.