ReviewJournal of pain research2026
Comparative Effects of Acupuncture Combined with Tuina versus Acupuncture Alone for Lumbar Disc Herniation.
Review in Journal of pain research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
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
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Whether adding tuina to acupuncture provides clinically important benefit for lumbar disc herniation remains uncertain. This review compared acupuncture combined with tuina with acupuncture alone. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP were searched without language restrictions from the earliest available records to January 31, 2026. Randomized controlled trials comparing acupuncture combined with tuina versus acupuncture alone were included. Outcomes were JOA score, VAS score, ODI, and overall therapeutic response. Random-effects models were used for clinically or statistically heterogeneous outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using outcome-specific RoB 2, and certainty was assessed using GRADE. The review was retrospectively registered in PROSPERO in March 2026 (CRD420261297721). Results: Seventeen trials involving 1555 participants were included. The combined intervention was associated with higher JOA scores (SMD 0.74, 95% CI 0.17 to 1.31; I2=94.9%), lower VAS scores (SMD -1.42, 95% CI -1.97 to -0.87; I2=95.1%), lower ODI scores (SMD -2.08, 95% CI -3.13 to -1.03; I2=96.9%), and a higher overall therapeutic response (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.17; I2=33.0%). Most outcome-specific results raised some concerns or were at high risk of bias. Certainty was very low for JOA, VAS, and ODI and low for overall therapeutic response. Conclusion: Limited-certainty evidence suggests that adding tuina to acupuncture may provide a possible short-term benefit for pain and function. Substantial heterogeneity, methodological limitations, variable outcome definitions, and possible small-study effects preclude firm conclusions about clinical superiority.
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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.