SynthesisMedicine2025
Efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with Western medicine in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of acupuncture therapy on the symptoms and immune indicators of ankylosing spondylitis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Combined detection of HLA-B27, ESR, and CRP as biochemical and immunogenetic markers in the auxiliary diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2026Article
- Different Acupuncture Therapies Combined with Sulfasalazine for the Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis: Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
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
Abstract
backgroundAn autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is known to cause stiffness and pain in the joints. Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used extensively to treat AS. It has several advantages, including safety, affordability, and few adverse effects. However, there is limited data to support its therapeutic effects. As a result, the goal of the current study is to assess acupuncture's reliability in treating AS in its entirety.
methodsSeven databases were searched from January 1, 2000, to July 31, 2024, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture in conjunction with Western medicine to treat AS. The retrieved data was meta-analyzed using Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 17.0. The updated Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to evaluate the bias risk in RCTs.
resultsThe results revealed that combining Acupuncture and Western medicine led to better outcomes as far as effective rate (RR = 1.25, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.16-1.34); thoracic mobility (MD = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.43-0.73); Schober test (SMD = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.57-1.09); bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (MD = -1.11, 95% CI: -1.46 to -0.76); visual analog scale for pain (MD = -1.02, 95% CI: -1.44 to -0.60); CRP (MD = -2.79, 95% CI: -4.14 to -1.43); ESR: (MD = -5.33, 95% CI: -6.63 to -4.02); and adverse reactions (RR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.35-0.95) in contrast to treating AS with just Western treatment.
conclusionWhen paired with Western therapy, acupuncture improves the effective rate, functional scores, and symptoms of people with AS while lowering adverse reactions.
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What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.