Table 1.

General Characteristics of the Included 31 Studies

No.	Included Trials	Publication Language	No. of Participants		Intervention		Course of Treatment
			Trial	Control	Trial	Control
1	Wasan 201019	English	21	19	Acupuncture	Sham acupuncture	21d
2	Chen 201020	Chinese	50	50	Acupuncture	Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation	5w
3	Su 201021	Chinese	30	30	Acupuncture	Sham acupuncture	1 session
4	Shankar 201122	English	30	30	Electro-acupuncture	Valdecoxib	3w
5	Hunter 201223	English	24	28	Ear acupuncture + exercise	Exercise	12w
6	Yun 201224	English	124	63	Acupuncture	Usual care	7w
7	Vas 201225	English	210	70	Acupuncture	Conventional treatment	4w
8	Cho 201317	English	65	65	Acupuncture	Sham acupuncture	6w
9	Shin 201326	English	29	29	Motion style acupuncture	NSAIDs injection	1 session
10	Wand 201327	English	25	25	Sensory discrimination acupuncture	Usual acupuncture	1 session
11	Weib 201328	English	79	77	Acupuncture + standard rehabilitation programme	Standard rehabilitation programme	21d
12	Hasegawa 201429	English	40	40	Acupuncture	Sham acupuncture	5 sessions
13	Seo 201730	English	27	27	Bee venom acupuncture + Loxonin	Sham bee venom acupuncture + Loxonin	3w
14	Kizhakkeveettil 201731	English	34	67	Acupuncture	Spinal manipulative treatment/integrative care	60d
15	Liu 201732	English	30	15	4/7 sessions acupuncture	10 sessions acupuncture	12w
16	Zhang 201733	Chinese	30	60	Acupuncture	Sham acupuncture	1 session
17	Wu 201734	Chinese	30	30	Internal heating acupuncture	Warm acupuncture	3w
18	Zheng 201835	English	63	27	Electroacupuncture/sham acupuncture	Pain medication management (opioid medications)	10w
19	Lee 201836	English	20	20	Thread embedding acupuncture	Acupuncture	8w
20	Heo 201837	English	18	21	Electroacupuncture + usual care	Usual care	4w
21	Liu 201838	Chinese	42	42	Internal heating acupuncture	Warm acupuncture	10d
22	Luo 201939	English	104	48	Acupuncture	Usual care	7w
23	Vas 201940	English	165	55	Ear acupuncture + standard obstetric care	Standard obstetric care	2w
24	Nicolian 201941	English	96	103	Acupuncture	Standard care	4w
25	Li 201942	Chinese	49	49	Tiaoshen acupuncture	Usual acupuncture	2w
26	Comachio 202043	English	33	33	Electro-acupuncture	Manual acupuncture	6w
27	Bishop 202044	English	69	41	Acupuncture + standard care	Standard care	6w
28	Sung 202045	English	19	19	Thread embedding acupuncture + acupuncture	Acupuncture	8w
29	Li 202046	Chinese	30	30	Six-directions acupuncture	Usual acupuncture	13d
30	Wang 202047	Chinese	34	34	Acupuncture at tendon lesions	Usual acupuncture	4w
31	Yang 202048	Chinese	99	99	Floating acupuncture	Usual acupuncture	10d