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Background: Whether the clinical effect of acupuncture in chronic pain is effective has always been a hot topic of research, which has a great relationship with the overall reporting descriptions of acupuncture, especially the sham acupuncture intervention. To confirm the effectiveness of acupuncture, more clinical studies are often required. Therefore, it is necessary to report high-quality and complete descriptions of acupuncture in clinical trials. This study aims to assess the overall reporting quality of acupuncture for chronic pain in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods: Three databases from inception to March 2020 were searched, to assess the quality of acupuncture reports included the RCTs based on the pain-specific supplement to Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT) and Standards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) guidelines. The quality of sham acupuncture descriptions was evaluated based on the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR)-placebo checklist. Descriptive statistics and analysis of the results were carried out according to the percentage of each item.
Results: A total of 74 RCTs were included which met the inclusion criteria. Based on the pain-specific CONSORT, the reporting rates of "Statistical methods", "Participant flow", and "Blinding" were "52.70%", "70.27%", and "77.03%", respectively. The weakest reported items in STRICTA were related to the depth of insertion (Item 2c, 54.05%) and the setting and context of treatment (Item 4b, 0.00%). Based on the TIDieR-placebo checklist, the reporting rates of "Item 12", "Item 11", "Item 13", "Item 3", and "Item 4" were "8.11%", "10.81%", "29.73%", " 44.59% ", and "47.30%", respectively.
Conclusion: At present, the overall report quality of acupuncture treatment for chronic pain in English journals is acceptable, but the report rate in some aspects is still low. In the future, researchers should report RCTs of acupuncture following cleaner checklists and guidelines.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S319195 | DOI Listing |
Pain Manag
September 2025
Pain Management Unit, Hospital Universitario Quirónsalud Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Aims: The aim of this observational study is to describe the use of epiduroscopy to decrease the enlargement of the ligamentum flavum (LF) in patients with spinal stenosis, as well as the selection of the appropriate patient and the safety measures that enhance procedural success.
Materials & Methods: We introduce the patient selection protocol, define the appropriate indication and the safety measures to use the epiduroscopy as a tool to decrease the size of the LF and increase space, reducing possible complications.
Results: Among patients included in the study, there were no cases of access difficulty or coccydynia, and one case of urinary incontinence occurred in a patient with Schizas grade D (very severe) stenosis.
Curr Obes Rep
September 2025
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Purpose Of The Review: This review aimed to summarize current evidence on the effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) in the management of obesity and endometriosis, with a focus on dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean and Ketogenic diets, as well as nutritional supplementation. Additionally, it highlights the central role of the clinical nutritionist in implementing individualized, evidence-based interventions within multidisciplinary care.
Recent Findings: Although the literature reports the existence of an inverse relationship between risk of endometriosis and body mass index, clinical evidence jointly reports that a condition of obesity is associated with greater disease severity.
Clin Transl Gastroenterol
September 2025
Lynda K and David M Underwood Center for Digestive Health, Houston Methodist, Houston, TX, USA.
Introduction: Pharmacological therapies for chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) are useful, but many patients report dissatisfaction from a lack of efficacy and occurrence of adverse events. The vibrating capsule (VC) is an FDA approved non-pharmacologic, treatment for CIC. However, its long-term usefulness in a community setting is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransl Vis Sci Technol
September 2025
Wilmer Eye Institute, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Purpose: The purinergic receptor P2X4 is critical to transduction of ocular pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of the P2X4 receptor antagonist BAY-776 in alleviating chronic ocular pain.
Methods: Chronic ocular pain was induced in male rats (8-9 weeks old; n = 12 per group) via double lacrimal gland removal (DLGR).
Integr Med Res
March 2026
Institute of Safety and Effectiveness Evaluation for Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
Background: The number of injured workers using Traditional Korean Medicine (KM) soared from 752 in 2013 to 10,273 in 2023, yet this trend remains underexplored. This cross-sectional study examined the frequency and factors linked to KM and Western Medicine (WM) use among injured workers.
Methods: Data from 6,985 participants in the 2018 and 2023 waves of the Panel Study of Workers' Compensation Insurance (PSWCI) were analyzed.