. 2014 Apr 28;15(3):279–291. doi: 10.1111/papr.12208

Table 4.

Effect Estimates for Acupuncture for Acute Postoperative Pain after Back Surgery

Outcome of Subgroup	Number of Studies^ref	Number of Patients	Effect Estimate (SMD [95% CI])
AT vs. sham AT
VAS (pain)
Before AT	1³⁶	132	−0.95 [−1.31, −0.59]
Immediately after AT	1³⁶	132	−2.91 [−3.40, −2.41]
0.5 h after AT	1³⁶	132	−4.74 [−5.42, −4.07]
1 h after AT	1³⁶	132	−5.68 [−6.45, −4.90]
2 h after AT	1³⁶	132	−6.95 [−7.87, −6.03]
6 h after AT	1³⁶	132	−9.82 [−11.07, −8.57]
Before surgery	1³⁴	60	NA
1 h after surgery	1³⁴	60	NA
2 h after surgery	1³⁴	60	NA
24 h after surgery	2³⁴^,³⁸	124	−0.67 [−1.04, −0.31]
Opiate demands
Postoperative dose during first 24 h	2³⁴^,³⁸	124	−0.23 [−0.58, −0.13]
AT vs. no treatment
VAS (pain)
Before surgery	1³⁴	60	NA
1 h after surgery	1³⁴	60	NA
2 h after surgery	1³⁴	60	NA
24 h after surgery	2³⁴^,³⁸	124	−0.69 [−1.06, −0.33]
Opiate demands
Postoperative dose during first 24 h	2³⁴^,³⁸	124	−0.77 [−1.14, −0.41]
AT vs. conventional therapy
VAS (pain)
Before surgery	1³⁵	90	0.11 [−0.30, 0.52]
1 week after surgery	1³⁵	90	0.16 [−0.26, 0.57]
1 month after surgery	1³⁵	90	−0.94 [−1.38, −0.50]
3 months after surgery	1³⁵	90	−0.08 [−0.50, 0.33]
AT plus conventional therapy vs. conventional therapy
VAS (pain)
2 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA
24 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA
48 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA
72 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA
Morphine demands
Postoperative dose during first 24 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA
Postoperative dose 24 h–48 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA
Postoperative dose 48 h–72 h after surgery	1³⁷	74	NA

AT, acupuncture; CI, confidence interval; NA, not applicable because of the lack of data on standard deviation in the original paper; SMD, standardized mean difference; VAS, visual analogue scale.