Meta-Analysis of Acupuncture Effects on Brain Networks in Chronic Pain Patients

A systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizing evidence from 17 randomized controlled trials comprising 750 patients, published between 2016 and 2025. The study, authored by Xin Ma and registered in PROSPERO, quantifies acupuncture's effects on brain activity and clinical pain outcomes in patients with chronic pain conditions like osteoarticular pain and migraine.

Use Cases

• Validate neuroimaging biomarkers for pain interventions based on reported changes in the anterior cingulate cortex and insula.
• Correlate brain network modulation with clinical outcomes based on reported associations between neuroimaging indicators and Visual Analogue Scale scores.
• Assess treatment efficacy for specific chronic pain subtypes based on the reported focus on osteoarticular pain and migraine.

Strengths

• Includes 17 high-quality RCTs with a total of 750 patients.
• Reports statistically significant effect sizes (e.g., MD=0.27, p<0.00001) for multiple brain regions and networks.
• Provides a GRADE evidence quality assessment, rating evidence for pain relief rate as high.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 269.0 KB DOCX file, indicating a limited textual summary rather than raw trial data.
• Evidence is constrained by a limited number of studies, heterogeneity in pain subtypes and neuroimaging modalities, and short follow-up durations as stated in the conclusion.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs identified via comprehensive searches of English and Chinese databases.

Time Range

2016–2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-01 13:46:44; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global (studies from English and Chinese databases)