Effects of Warm Needle Acupuncture on Temporomandibular Joint Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Gao-Feng Liu,Min Yang,Zheng-Nan Liu,Tai-Peng Tan,Zhen Gao,Sheng Zhang

doi:10.1155/2021/6868625

Abstract

Background Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) are a common and prevalent disease with main symptoms of pain, joint sounds, and mandibular movement disorders, which seriously affects the mental health and quality of life of the sufferers. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of studies utilizing warm needle acupuncture (WNA) for the treatment of TMD, and the quality of the studies has gradually improved. However, evidence from evidence-based medicine is lacking. This study aims to use a systematic review and meta-analysis method to understand the efficacy of WNA for the treatment of TMD. Methods and Analysis. We searched randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of WNA for the treatment of TMD from 9 electronic databases, including 5 English databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and MEDLINE) and 4 Chinese databases (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese VIP Information, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM)) from their inception to May 2021. The included RCTs compared WNA with acupuncture, electroacupuncture, pharmacological therapy, or other therapies. And outcome indicators such as total effective rate and cure rate were assessed. All analyses were conducted using RevMan software V5.3 and Stata16. Measurement count data used the relative risk (RR) as the efficacy statistic, and each effect size was given its point estimate value and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results The meta-analysis included 10 studies with a total of 670 patients, which included 340 patients in the experimental group and 330 patients in the control group. The data in this review showed that WNA is superior to treatments such as acupuncture alone, acupuncture therapy combined with TDP, drug therapy, and ultrasonic therapy in terms of effective rate (RR = 1.20; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.35; and P = 0.003) and cure rate (RR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.46 to 2.28; and P < 0.00001) for the treatment of TMD. Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis provides new evidence for the effectiveness of WNA for the treatment of TMD. However, the above conclusions need to be further verified by multicenter prospective studies of larger samples and higher-quality RCTs. Protocol registration number: INPLASY202160030.

Highlights

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a general term for a series of diseases involving the temporomandibular joint, masticatory muscles, and surrounding structures.Mouth-opening limitation, oral and maxillofacial pain, and joint clanging are the most common symptoms, which severely affects the quality of life of patients with Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) [1, 2]
E meta-analysis included 10 studies with a total of 670 patients, which included 340 patients in the experimental group and 330 patients in the control group. e data in this review showed that Warm needle acupuncture (WNA) is superior to treatments such as acupuncture alone, acupuncture therapy combined with TDP, drug therapy, and ultrasonic therapy in terms of effective rate (RR 1.20; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06 to 1.35; and P 0.003) and cure rate (RR 1.82; 95% CI, 1.46 to 2.28; and P < 0.00001) for the treatment of TMD
Warm needle acupuncture (WNA) is a commonly used method to treat TMD, which combines the advantages of acupuncture and moxibustion. e needle is pierced to an appropriate depth, and the moxa on the handle of the needle is heated, so that the warm stimulus will transmit to the deep part of the acupuncture point through the needle, which helps to dispel wind and cold to relieve pain

Summary

Background

Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) are a common and prevalent disease with main symptoms of pain, joint sounds, and mandibular movement disorders, which seriously affects the mental health and quality of life of the sufferers. There have been an increasing number of studies utilizing warm needle acupuncture (WNA) for the treatment of TMD, and the quality of the studies has gradually improved. Is study aims to use a systematic review and meta-analysis method to understand the efficacy of WNA for the treatment of TMD. E included RCTs compared WNA with acupuncture, electroacupuncture, pharmacological therapy, or other therapies. We searched randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of WNA for the treatment of TMD from 9 electronic databases, including 5 English databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and MEDLINE) and 4 Chinese databases (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese VIP Information, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM)) from their inception to May 2021. Outcome indicators such as total effective rate and cure rate were assessed.

Introduction

Methods

Eligibility Criteria

Results

WNA VS Acupuncture