Abstract
IntroductionShoulder pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders among adults and is caused by a variety of shoulder conditions. The popularity of different acupuncture methods in the nonsurgical treatment of shoulder pain has recently increased. However, evidence regarding the efficacy of acupuncture for shoulder pain is inconsistent, and there is a lack of supporting evidence regarding the overall efficacy of different acupuncture methods for shoulder pain.Methods and AnalysisA systematic review will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of a wide range of acupuncture techniques for atraumatic shoulder conditions. The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Ovid MEDLINE, Chinese Biomedical Literature, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Chongqing VIP databases will be searched to identify eligible studies. Studies will be selected according to preset inclusion and exclusion criteria and relevant data will be extracted from the final included studies. The heterogeneity, risk of bias, publication bias and evidence quality of the studies will be assessed, and a subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis will be performed.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO registration number CRD42021249625.
Highlights
Shoulder pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders among adults and is caused by a variety of shoulder conditions
It is often difficult to determine the contribution of different pathological conditions to shoulder pain, and the diagnosis of shoulder pain is usually determined by the condition with the most significant pathological change or clinical signs
Green et al [30] performed a systematic review on the effect of acupuncture on shoulder pain, but only acupuncture and electroacupuncture were included for evaluation, and little evidence was established to support or refute the use of acupuncture for shoulder pain
Summary
Shoulder pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders among adults and is caused by a variety of shoulder conditions. Shoulder pain is considered one of the most common causes of musculoskeletal problems in primary care, with a prevalence of 16 to 26% in the general population and a lifetime prevalence of 7 to 67% [1, 2]. It often results in weakness and dysfunction of the upper extremity, compromising an individual’s health status [3, 4]. Acupuncture for Atraumatic Shoulder Conditions leads to the complexity of shoulder pain-related pathology. The interobserver agreement of the diagnosis of shoulder pain was reported to be only 60% [9] These characteristics make it difficult to accurately distinguish different pathologies and diagnoses of shoulder pain. In view of the inaccuracy and inconsistency of the abovementioned diagnoses of shoulder pain, we propose that these conditions be considered as a whole when assessing the effectiveness of the methods used for the management of shoulder pain
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