Table 2.

Characteristics of included studies in this systematic review.

Author, year	Age range	Participants (M/F)	Interventions	Frequency and duration of the acupoint injection	Acupoint injection drug, dose	Acupoints injected	Outcomes/measure(s)
Jing, 2013 [26]	18–75	90 (43/47)	EG: Acupoint injection + TDP CG: Acupuncture	EG: 15 min-2 min/day, once a day or alternate dose, 10 dayS CG: 40 min/day, once a day, 10 dayS	Cervus and Cucumis Polypeptide injection 4 ml, 0.5–1 ml/point	BL32, BL36, BL40, BL54, BL57, GB37, GB30, SP9, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Li et al., 2004 [23]	25–75	150 (63/87)	EG1: Acupoint injection (2% lidocaine) EG2: Acupoint injection (Danshen injection) CG: Acupuncture	EG1: Every three days, 20 days EG2: Every three days, 20 days CG: every other day, 20 days	EG1: 2% lidocaine EG2: Danshen injection	BL23, BL24, BL25, BL40, GB30, GB34, EX-B05, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Li, 2014 [19]	22–76	100 (59/41)	EG: Acupoint injection + Electroacupuncture CG: Electroacupuncture	EG: Acupoint injection: Once/5–7 days Electroacupuncture: 25 min one time, once a day, 6 days as a session, 2–4 sessions CG: Electroacupuncture	2% lidocaine 4 ml + triamcinolone acetonide acetate 12.5 mg + vitamin B12 2 ml	BL23, BL25, BL40, BL54, GV03, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Liu et al., 2012 [35]	Did not report	208 (did not report)	EG: Acupoint injection + acupuncture CG: Acupuncture	EG: Acupuncture: 20 min/day, 5 times/week, 2 weeks; acupoint injection: Once a week, 2 weeks CG: 20 min/day, 5 times/week, 2 weeks	Diprospan 5 mg + mecobalamin 0.5 mg + 0.9% NaCl 10 ml	BL23, BL28, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Luo and Han, 2017 [20]	23–78	80 (65/15)	EG: Acupoint injection + Electroacupuncture. CG: Electroacupuncture	EG: Acupuncture: 25 min/day, 6 times/week, 2–4 weeks; acupoint injection: Once a week, 2–4 weeks CG: 25 min/day, 6 times/week, 2–4 weeks	2% lidocaine 4 ml + triamcinolone acetonide acetate 12.5 mg + vitamin B12 + 2 ml	BL23, BL25, BL40, BL54, GV03, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate; Patient satisfaction
Qi, 2012 [21]	22–78	60 (39/21)	EG: Acupoint injection + Electroacupuncture CG: Electroacupuncture	EG: Acupuncture: 25 min/day, 6 times/week, 2–4 weeks; acupoint injection: once a week, 2–4 weeks CG: 25 min/day, 6 times/week, 2–4 weeks	2% lidocaine 4 ml + triamcinolone acetonide acetate 12.5 mg + vitamin B1 2.2 ml	BL23, BL25, BL40, BL54, GV03, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Shin et al., 2012 [27]	18–65	60 (27/33)	EG: Acupoint injection CG: sham injection	EG: Twice a week for 4 weeks for a total of 8 treatment sessions CG: twice a week for 4 weeks for a total of 8 treatment sessions	EG: In the BVA group, the bee venom was diluted 1 : 2000, and a volume of 0.1 ml was injected into each acupoint. The total injected volume per participant was set at 0.6 ml (0.1 ml × 6 points) CG: Equal amounts of normal saline were injected into each acupoint (0.1 ml × 6 points)	BL23, BL24, BL25	VAS, SF-36, ODQ, SLRT
Wen et al., 2017 [25]	40–75	150 (85/65)	EG: Acupoint injection + function exercise CG: function exercise + voltaren (oral)	EG: Function exercise: did not report; Acupoint injection: once two days CG: function exercise: did not report; Voltaren (oral): Two pills each time, once a day	Danhong injection 2 ml each point	GV03, BL23, BL40, BL32	VAS; subjective cure rate
Wu et al., 2015 [18]	24–56	93 (52/41)	EG: Acupoint injection + traditional Chinese medicine bone setting technique CG: Lumbar traction	EG: Acupoint injection: once a day, 20 times as a session; Traditional Chinese medicine bone setting technique: Once every two days, 20 times as a session CG: 15–40 minutes/day	0.5 mg vitamin B12 (1 ml) + compound Angelica injection (2 ml) + 0.9% NaCl (2 ml)	Back Shu point	Subjective cure rate; VAS
Yang and Wang, 2010 [24]	Did not report	90 (did not report)	EG1: Acupoint injection (Angelica injection) EG2: Acupoint injection (O3 injection) CG: Electroacupuncture	EG1: Once a day, ten times as a session, one session EG2: Once a day, ten times as a session, one session CG: Once a day, ten times as a session, one session	EG1: Angelica injection (0.5–1 ml) EG2: 1% lidocaine + 30 μg/ml oxygen-ozone 3–5 ml	BL24, BL25, BL26, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Zhang et al., 2007 [36]	Did not report	120 (65/55)	EG1: Acupoint injection (Angelica injection) EG2: Acupoint injection (O3 injection) CG: Electroacupuncture	EG1: Once a day, ten times as a session, one session EG2: Once a day, ten times as a sesson, one session CG: Once a day, ten times as a sesson, one session	EG1: Angelica injection 0.5–1 ml EG2: 30 μg/ml oxygen-ozone 3–5 ml	BL24, BL25, BL26, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate
Zhu, 2003 [22]	38–72	180 (did not report)	EG1: Acupoint injection; EG2: Oral Chinese medicine; CG: The five elements of haci needle + anti-inflammatory agent	EG1: Once a day, four times as a sesson, one session EG2: Once a day, four times as a sesson, one session CG: 20 minutes/day, once a day, ten times as a session, one session	Tongxitong 40 mg + Angelica injection 4 ml + vitamin B1 200 mg + vitamin B12 100 mg	GV03, EX-B02, GB34, Ashi point	Subjective cure rate

VAS, visual analogue scale.