Safety of Thread Embedding Acupuncture Therapy: A Systematic Review

Huang, Jiajia; Liang, Junquan; Xu, Xiaoli; Xu, Yunxiang; Chen, Gui-Zhen

doi:10.1007/s11655-021-3443-1

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…ACE has been used for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, obesity, and facial palsy in Korea, China, and Taiwan. [ 99 ] One review [ 100 ] on the safety of ACE reported that the most common adverse events were induration, bleeding, fever, redness, and swelling, all of which disappeared without special treatment. Furthermore, the incidence of serious adverse events was 0.1%, which had no clear causal relationship with ACE.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative effectiveness of different acupuncture therapies for neck pain

Noh

et al. 2022

Medicine

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Background: Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal symptom that has negative effects on quality of life and work productivity. Acupuncture has been widely used for neck pain, and a number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews (SRs) have evaluated its effectiveness. However, previous studies have obtained inconsistent results regarding the effects of acupuncture for neck pain, and there is no SR for the comparative efficacy and safety of various types of acupuncture. Therefore, we herein conducted a SR and network meta-analysis to compare and rank different types of acupuncture with respect to their effectiveness in treating neck pain.Methods: We searched 9 electronic databases for relevant RCTs published from their inception to July 1, 2021. Pairwise metaanalyses and network meta-analysis were performed with R software using the frequentist framework. Change of pain intensity was assessed as the primary outcome, and change of pain-related disability and efficacy rate were assessed as secondary outcomes. The Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) instrument were used to evaluate the quality of the included RCTs and the certainty of the evidence.Results: A total of 65 RCTs involving 5266 participants and 9 interventions were included. Three network meta-analyses were constructed for the following: pain intensity (42 RCTs, 3158 participants), pain-related disability (21 RCTs, 1581 participants), and efficacy rate (40 RCTs, 3512 participants). The results indicated that fire acupuncture, electroacupuncture, and warm acupuncture were more effective than manual acupuncture in terms of pain intensity reduction and efficacy rate, and that electroacupuncture decreased pain-related disability more effectively than manual acupuncture. Fire acupuncture ranked first among the 9 interventions. The overall q of evidence was very low according to the GRADE assessment. The reported adverse events were not serious. Conclusion:Fire acupuncture, warm acupuncture, acupoint catgut embedding, and electroacupuncture ranked higher than other interventions (usual care, sham acupuncture, no treatment) in reducing the pain and disability index scores and the efficacy rate. However, the included trials were evaluated as being of low quality; thus, we recommend additional well-designed RCTs with larger sample sizes to confirm these findings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative effectiveness of different acupuncture therapies for neck pain

Noh

et al. 2022

Medicine

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“…According to a study by Huang et al, [19] who reported the safety of TEA, the most common adverse events were induration, bleeding and ecchymosis, redness and swelling, fever, and pain, and serious adverse events such as necrosis, multiple skin ulcers, and suppuration. In this study, participants experienced mild pain, edema, bruising, and itching at the intervention sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most important point of caution when performing TEA is infection. Huang et al [19] recommended that TEA should be performed under sterile conditions, and patients must be screened before and after the procedure to minimize the risk of infection. In this study, no cases of infection were reported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy and safety of thread embedding acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled pilot trial

et al. 2022

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Background: Thread embedding acupuncture (TEA) is a widely used clinical procedure for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain. However, few clinical studies have been conducted on the efficacy and safety of TEA for knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and data from randomized controlled trials are lacking. This randomized controlled pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of conducting large-scale studies on the efficacy and safety of TEA for KOA.Methods: Forty participants were included in the study and randomly divided into 2 groups (TEA and acupuncture) of 20 each. The intervention period was 6 weeks. The experimental group received TEA once a week (total of 6 sessions) on 14 defined knee areas, and the control group received acupuncture twice a week (total of 12 sessions) on 9 defined acupuncture points. The primary outcome measure was the visual analogue scale score, and the secondary outcome measures were the short-form McGill pain questionnaire, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores. Participants were assessed prior to the intervention (baseline) and at 3, 6, and 10 weeks (4 weeks after the end of intervention). The adverse effects of TEA and acupuncture were documented. Hematological examination and biochemical tests were performed at the screening and at 6 weeks.Results: Of the 40 participants, 37 completed the study and 3 participants dropped out. Both the TEA and acupuncture groups showed a significant improvement in the visual analogue scale, short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores in a time-dependent manner. However, there was no significant interaction between group and time. No serious adverse events were reported in the groups, and no clinically significant changes were observed in the hematological and biochemical parameters. Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that TEA is a safe and effective procedure for relieving pain in patients with KOA. The results of this study provide basic data and indicate the feasibility of large-scale clinical studies to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TEA for KOA. Abbreviations: KOA = knee osteoarthritis, RCT = randomized controlled trial, SF-MPQ = short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, TEA = thread embedding acupuncture, VAS = visual analogue scale, WOMAC = Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index.

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“…All reported cases of SAEs recovered after symptomatic treatment with no sequelae. 25 Martins reviewed 1278 AE cases and product problems related to PDO implants in 49 clinical trials and 104 scientific publications. In the study, commonly reported AEs were surgical site infections, foreign body reactions, inflammatory reactions, postoperative pain and fever, but no deaths were reported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Appraising the safety and reporting quality of thread-embedding acupuncture: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

et al. 2022

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IntroductionThread-embedding acupuncture (TEA) is a special type of acupuncture treatment in which medical threads are inserted into subcutaneous tissues or muscles at therapeutic points. TEA is a medical practice that combines acupuncture and medical threads. As such, it is necessary to evaluate the safety of TEA. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the safety of TEA and reporting quality of studies regarding TEA.Methods and analysisThe systematic review will be conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Searching strategies will be systemically conducted using the following databases from their inception date to September 2022: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), CiNii, J-STAGE, Korean Medical Database, Korean Studies Information Service System (KISS), ScienceON and Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS). The search strategies will be adjusted for each database as appropriate. The risk of bias will be assessed using the McMaster tool to identify the quality of harm assessment and reporting in study reports (McHarm). A meta-analysis will be used to synthesise the frequency and incidence of adverse events.Ethics and disseminationNo ethical approval and consent is required for this systematic review. The results of this systematic review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42022297123.

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Safety of Thread Embedding Acupuncture Therapy: A Systematic Review

Cited by 13 publications

References 10 publications

Comparative effectiveness of different acupuncture therapies for neck pain

Comparative effectiveness of different acupuncture therapies for neck pain

Efficacy and safety of thread embedding acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled pilot trial

Appraising the safety and reporting quality of thread-embedding acupuncture: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

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