Sham devices impede real acupuncture 2023

Stimulated by Lee et al 2023.[1] Photo by Iai_man_nung on Unsplash. NMA – network meta-analysisRCT – randomised controlled trialOAK – osteoarthritis of the kneeMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupunctureSMD – standardised mean differenceMCID – minimum clinically important differenceNICE – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence key to acronyms I first wrote about this on … Continue reading Sham devices impede real acupuncture 2023

Needling TePs in OAK

...does it make any difference? Inspired by Liu et al 2022.[1] Some interesting looking structures in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. TePs – tender pointsOA – osteoarthritisOAK – osteoarthritis of the kneeAPs – acupuncture pointsTrPs – trigger pointsEA – electroacupuncturekey to acronyms This is a large clinical trial (n=666) from Chengdu that compares different acupuncture approaches to … Continue reading Needling TePs in OAK

Exercise vs IA saline in OAK

Inspired by Bandak et al 2022.[1] IA – intra-articularOA – osteoarthritisOAK – OA kneeGLA:D – Good Life with osteoArthritis in DenmarkUS – ultrasoundKOOS – Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome ScoreSMD – standardised mean difference (a measure of effect size used in meta-analyses)EA – electroacupunctureMCID – minimum clinically important differencekey to acronyms I am very grateful … Continue reading Exercise vs IA saline in OAK

Distant vs local needling

Inspired by Yu et al 2021.[1] Photo by Dylann Hendricks | 딜란 on Unsplash. PoPS – principles of point selectionOA – osteoarthritisVAS – visual analogue scaleROM – range of movementHNCS – heterotopic noxious conditioning stimulationDNIC – diffuse noxious inhibitory controlkey to acronyms I will immediately admit that I am always biased in this debate in … Continue reading Distant vs local needling

CHD risk in depression

Inspired by Huang et al 2021.[1] Photo by Jiroe on Unsplash. CHD – coronary heart diseaseFM – fibromyalgiaRA – rheumatoid arthritisOA – osteoarthritisPD – Parkinson’s diseaseNHIRD – National Health Insurance Research Database (Taiwan)aHR – adjusted hazard ratioMA – manual acupunctureEA – electroacupuncturekey to acronyms This is the fourth large retrospective observational cohort from Taiwan measuring … Continue reading CHD risk in depression

EA for guinea pig OAK

Inspired by Spittler et al 2021,[1] Lam et al 2021,[2] and Ko et al 2021.[3] A Hartley guinea pig – a laboratory breed. EA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureOAK – osteoarthritis of the kneeRCT – randomised controlled trialSR – systematic reviewIF – impact factorC3 – complement component 3 (serum C3 rises in inflammation)VAS – visual … Continue reading EA for guinea pig OAK

Acupuncture and arthroplasty

Stimulated by Chen et al 2021,[1] and Narayana Murthy et al 2021.[2] X ray film of a knee after TKR. Figure 1 from Narayana Murthy et al 2021.[2] TKA – total knee arthroplastyIF – impact factorRCT – randomised controlled trialkey to acronyms This week I have chosen a couple of papers that are linked by … Continue reading Acupuncture and arthroplasty

Intensive EA/MA in OAK

Inspired by Tu et al 2020.[1] Photo by Anna Auza on Unsplash. EA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureOA – osteoarthritisOAK – OA kneeRR – responder rateNRS – numerical rating scaleWOMAC – Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis indexMCII – minimum clinically important improvementGERAC – German acupuncture (trial)ARC – acupuncture in routine care (trial)key to acronyms … Continue reading Intensive EA/MA in OAK

Reducing TKR surgery

Inspired by Gang et al 2020.[1] Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com OA – osteoarthritisNHIS – National Health Insurance Service (Korea)CCI – Charlson comorbidity indexHR – hazard ratioTKR – total knee replacementkey to acronyms This week we have another big retrospective observational study. This makes number 14 on my list of similar papers published over the … Continue reading Reducing TKR surgery