An Assessment of Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews of Acupuncture and Related Therapies for Cancer-Related Pain

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to summarize and evaluate
the methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
papers on the acupuncture and related therapies for management
of cancer-related pain.
Methods: A comprehensive search on multiple databases was
performed using Assessing the Methodological
Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR).
Results: Fourteen systematic reviews published between 2005 and
2017 were eligible for inclusion. The consensus across the included
reviews was that acupuncture and related therapies alone did not
have superior pain-relieving effects as compared with analgesic
administration using various validated pain scales. However, as
compared with analgesic administration alone, acupuncture and
related therapies plus analgesics resulted in
Reduced cancer related-pain.
Conclusion: The study findings emphasized that acupuncture and
related therapies alone did not have clinically significant effects
at cancer-related pain reduction as compared with analgesic
administration alone. Clinicians may consider acupuncture and
related therapies as adjunctive therapies for cancer-related pain
management, in particular, when pain control is unsatisfactory
under analgesics alone. Furthermore, the researchers should
Conduct the SRs and meta-analyses according to the Amstar and
Prisma.