Acupuncture therapy on myofascial pain syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jingwen Xiong; Xuancheng Zhou; Xiufang Luo; Xiangjin Gong; Lai Jiang; Qiang Luo; Shengke Zhang; Chenglu Jiang; Tong Pu; Jie Liu; Jun Zhang; Bo Li; Hao Chi

doi:10.3389/fneur.2024.1374542

Acupuncture therapy on myofascial pain syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Neurol. 2024 May 3:15:1374542. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1374542. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jingwen Xiong^#¹, Xuancheng Zhou^#², Xiufang Luo^#³, Xiangjin Gong¹, Lai Jiang⁴, Qiang Luo¹, Shengke Zhang⁴, Chenglu Jiang⁴, Tong Pu⁵, Jie Liu⁶, Jun Zhang⁶, Bo Li^{7

8}, Hao Chi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sports Rehabilitation, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
³ Department of Geriatric, Dazhou Central Hospital, Dazhou, China.
⁴ School of Clinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
⁵ College of Acupuncture and Tuina and Rehabilitation, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China.
⁶ Department of General Surgery, Dazhou Central Hospital, Dazhou, China.
⁷ Department of General Surgery (Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery), The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
⁸ Academician (Expert) Workstation of Sichuan Province, Metabolic Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases Key Laboratory of Luzhou City, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapies, especially acupuncture, have received increasing attention in the field of pain management. This meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across a number of databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, WOS, CNKI, WANFANG, Sinomed, and VIP. Furthermore, articles of studies published from the inception of these databases until November 22, 2023, were examined. This systematic review and meta-analysis encompassed all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupuncture for myofascial pain syndromes, without language or date restrictions. Based on the mean difference (MD) of symptom change, we critically assessed the outcomes reported in these trials. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. The study is registered with PROSPERO under registration number CRD42023484933.

Results: Our analysis included 10 RCTs in which 852 patients were divided into two groups: an acupuncture group (427) and a control group (425). The results of the study showed that acupuncture was significantly more effective than the control group in treating myofascial pain syndromes, which was reflected in a greater decrease in VAS scores (MD = -1.29, 95% [-1.65, -0.94], p < 0.00001). In addition, the improvement in PRI and PPI was more pronounced in the acupuncture group (PRI: MD = -2.04, 95% [-3.76, -0.32], p = 0.02) (PPI: MD = -1.03, 95% [-1.26, -0.79], p < 0.00001) compared to the control group. These results suggest that acupuncture is effective in reducing myofascial pain. It is necessary to further study the optimal acupoints and treatment time to achieve the best therapeutic effect.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023484933.

Keywords: acupuncture; complementary and alternative therapies; myofascial pain syndrome; pain; traditional Chinese medicine.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The authors declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The study was funded by Sichuan Medical Association Project (S21048), Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province project (2022YFS0256), Bethune Medical Science Research Fund (19007), and Sichuan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine project (2020LC0107).