Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Peripheral Neuropathic Pain: A Frequentist Network Meta-Analysis and Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation

Table 3

Characteristics summary of included studies.

Author	Region	Diagnosis	Assessment tool	Arms	Intervention	Pain duration	Participants	Drop	Female/male	Responder/total	Treatment duration
Chen et al. [18]	China	Sciatica	Pain threshold	3	G1: warm needling	G1: 5.25 ± 3.59 y	G1: 30	G1: 0	G1: 8/22	G1: 27/30	10 d
					G2: nimesulide dispersible tablets	G2: 5.78 ± 4.87 y	G2: 30	G2: 0	G2: 9/21	G2: 22/30
					G3: acupoint injection	G3: 4.71 ± 3.96 y	G3: 30	G3: 0	G3: 10/20	G3: 19/30
Chen et al. [19]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: normal acupuncture	G1: 1.35 ± 0.37 y	G1: 45	G1: 0	G1: 16/29	G1: 36/45	20 d
					G2: fire needling	G2: 1.42 ± 0.39 y	G2: 45	G2: 0	G2: 14/31	G2: 43/45
Gao [20]	China	Shingles	VAS	2	G1: electrical needling	G1: 3.32 ± 1.21 y	G1: 40	G1: 0	G1: 16/24	G1: 40/40	10 d
					G2: indometacin enteric-coated tablets	G2: 3.12 ± 1.43 y	G2: 40	G2: 0	G2: 15/25	G2: 34/40
Han [21]	China	Cervical entrapment syndrome	VAS	2	G1: acupotomy (round-sharp needling)	G1: 3 m–11 y	G1: 68	G1: 0	G1: 27/41	G1: 66/68	14 d
					G2: normal acupuncture	G2: 5 m–12 y	G2: 67	G2: 0	G2: 28/39	G2: 67/67
Hong [22]	China	Occipital neuralgia	VAS	2	G1: fire needling	G1: 3.8 ± 1.6 d	G1: 30	G1: 0	G1: 16/14	G1: 30/30	5 d
					G2: carbamazepine tablets	G2: 3.7 ± 1.8 d	G2: 27	G2: 0	G2: 15/12	G2: 21/27
Li et al. [23]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: moxibustion	G1: 5.90 ± 1.44 m	G1: 40	G1: 0	G1: 17/23	G1: 39/40	30 d
					G2: fire needling	G2: 6.07 ± 1.27 m	G2: 40	G2: 1	G2: 18/22	G2: 39/39
Li [24]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: indometacin enteric-coated tablets	G1: 4.05 ± 2.13 m	G1: 42	G1: 0	G1: 15/27	G1: 28/42	15 d
					G2: normal acupuncture	G2: 4.13 ± 2.22 m	G2: 42	G2: 0	G2: 16/26	G2: 36/42
Lin et al. [25]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: moxibustion	G1: 5.90 ± 1.44 m	G1: 30	G1: 1	G1: 13/17	G1: 28/29	28 d
					G2: ibuprofen sustained release capsules	G2: 6.07 ± 1.27 m	G2: 30	G2: 3	G2: 16/14	G2: 19/27
Liu [26]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: indometacin enteric-coated tablets	G1: 4.11 ± 1.69 m	G1: 40	G1: 0	G1: 18/22	G1: 32/40	15 d
					G2: normal acupuncture	G2: 4.12 ± 1.61 m	G2: 40	G2: 0	G2: 17/23	G2: 38/40
Wang et al. [27]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: fire needling	G1: 1–10 m	G1: 28	G1: 0	G1: 12/16	G1: 28/28	14 d
					G2: normal acupuncture	G2: 1–11 m	G2: 28	G2: 0	G2: 13/15	G2: 28/28
Xie and Chen [28]	China	Trigeminal neuralgia	VAS	2	G1: carbamazepine tablets	G1: 9.8 ± 2.6Y	G1: 63	G1: 0	G1: 28/35	G1: 47/63	1 m
					G2: normal acupuncture	G2: 9.4 ± 2.7 y	G2: 63	G2: 0	G2: 27/36	G2: 57/63
Xu and Kang [29]	China	Occipital neuralgia	SF-MPQ	2	G1: moxibustion	NA	G1: 20	G1: 0	NA	G1: 20/20	10 d
					G2: normal acupuncture		G2: 20	G2: 0		G2: 18/20
Xu [30]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: fire needling	26 d–3 y	G1: 44	G1: 0	Total: 35/52	G1: 41/44	10 d
					G2: normal acupuncture		G2: 43	G2: 0		G2: 30/43
Yan et al. [31]	China	PHN	VAS	2	G1: fire needling	G1: 180.41 ± 25.71 d	G1: 38	G1: 0	G1: 17/21	G1: 37/38	28 d
					G2: diclofenac diethylamine emulgel	G2: 175.50 ± 26.05 d	G2: 37	G2: 0	G2: 17/20	G2: 29/37
Zhou [32]	China	Occipital neuralgia	VAS	2	G1: normal acupuncture	G1: 4.13 ± 1.22 d	G1: 60	G1: 2	G1: 33/27	G1: 55/58	5 d
					G2: nabumetone capsules	G2: 3.87 ± 1.39 d	G2: 60	G2: 5	G2: 29/31	G2: 40/55
Zhou et al. [33]	China	Cerical spondyliotic radicuolathy	Symptom scales	2	G1: warm needling	NA	G1: 30	G1: 0	G1: 8/22	G1: 30/30	10 d
					G2: normal acupuncture		G2: 30	G2: 0	G2: 12/18	G2: 26/30

PHN, postherpetic neuralgia; VAS, visual analogue scale; SF-MPQ, short-form McGill pain questionnaire; NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; G1 or (2, 3), group 1 or (group 2, group 3); NA, not available; d, day; m, month; y, year.