Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Retracted Publication
Effect of Sham Acupuncture on Chronic Pain: A Bayesian Network Meta-analysis.
Along with increasing research on acupuncture for chronic pain, the validity of sham acupuncture (SA) has also been argued. ⋯ These results suggested that acupuncture was significantly associated with reduced chronic pain. The two kinds of placebo acupuncture, NPSA and PSA, have similar effects. Both NPSA and PSA, with a weak but not significant effect, are appropriate to be inert placebo controls in RCTs for chronic pain.
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Review Meta Analysis
Amputation for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Meta-Analysis and Validation of a Histopathology Scoring System.
Pathology can provide crucial insights into the etiology of disease. The goal of this review is to evaluate the rigor of histopathology reports of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). ⋯ The Pathology Score is a useful quality assessment tool to evaluate studies. As expected, Anatomic papers scored significantly higher than Non-Anatomic papers. CRPS papers had small sample sizes (median 1) and infrequent reporting of diagnostic criteria, routine stain, any clinical pathologic correlation. These particular elements are crucial for analyzing and reviewing pathologic features. The analysis explains why it is quite difficult to write a meaningful systematic review of CRPS histology at this time.