Efficacy of acupuncture versus rehabilitation therapy on post-stroke shoulder pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy (RT) have been widely used for post-stroke shoulder pain (PSSP), but the efficacy of acupuncture versus RT remains unclear. Our aim was to assess the efficacy of acupuncture versus RT for PSSP. METHODS: Six databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese biological medicine database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and WAN FANG were searched from their inception to March 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture with RT on PSSP were included. Primary outcome was shoulder pain. Secondary outcomes were upper limb motor function, activities of daily living (ADL), and adverse events (AEs). We used RevMan Version 5.3 to pool data. We conducted data synthesis of all outcomes using the random effects model. The methodological quality of all studies was assessed by 2 independent reviewers using the risk of bias (ROB) assessment tool. We also performed subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis. We assessed the publication bias using the Egger test and funnel plots. RESULTS: Eighteen studies were included in qualitative synthesis, fifteen (83%) studies with 978 patients were included in meta-analysis (MA) because of the outcomes of 3 studies were inappropriate. Nine (50%) studies were considered as moderate to high quality according to ROB assessment tool. The effectiveness of acupuncture for patients with PSSP was similar to that of RT on shoulder pain alleviation (standardized mean difference [SMD]: −0.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.91 to 0.08, P = .10), improvement of upper limb motor function (weighted mean difference [WMD]: 0.80, 95% CI: −1.19 to 2.79, P = .43), and ADL (WMD: −0.83, 95% CI: −3.17 to 1.51, P = .49). Two (11%) studied reported no acupuncture-related AEs, and fourteen (78%) studies did not mention AEs resulting from acupuncture. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture is similar to RT in relieving shoulder pain, improving upper limb motor function and ADL in patients with PSSP. Either acupuncture or RT might be the optimal treatment of PSSP. More well-designed RCTs of this topic are needed in the future.