ReviewJournal of pain research2025
Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Neck Pain: Systematic Review and Meta‑analysis with Trial Sequential Analysis.
Review in Journal of pain research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07681349 (Evaluation of the Effect of Acupuncture on 3 Dimensional Scapular Kinematics and Electromyographic Activity in Patients With Chronic Neck Discomfort), which is not on this 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.
Evaluation of the Effect of Acupuncture on 3 Dimensional Scapular Kinematics and Electromyographic Activity in Patients With Chronic Neck Discomfort
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
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose and Objectives: Acupuncture is widely utilized intervention for neck pain. Previous research has indicated that acupuncture effectively reduces pain intensity of neck pain. However, its validity remains inconclusive due to repeated significance testing. We aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for neck pain through meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA). Methods: We searched the OVID Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from inception to October 30, 2024. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture with inert treatment, manual therapy, or other active treatments for neck pain in adults were included. Results: Twenty-six trials involving 3520 participants were included. Thirteen (50%) trials were at a low risk of bias. Acupuncture treatment demonstrated significantly greater reductions in pain intensity (mean difference [MD] ‒1.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] ‒1.77 to ‒0.75, Conclusion: In conclusion, despite the very low to moderate quality of evidence and high heterogeneity that weaken the pooled estimates, our analysis suggests acupuncture might be a safe and effectiveness therapy for neck pain, a finding corroborated by TSA. These results position acupuncture as a potential treatment option, particularly for patients with an inadequate response to conventional therapies. Future high-quality trials are unequivocally needed to strengthen this evidence.
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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.