Objectives This study aimed to search the Chinese literature on acupotomy for lumbar disc herniation and to analyze their methodologies. Methods Using 4 Chinese databases (CBM [www.sinomed.ac.cn], CNKI [www.cnki.net], WANFANG [www.wanfangdata.com], and WEIPU [www.cqvip.com]), we searched for clinical trials conducted in China over the past 10 years on acupotomy for lumbar disc herniation. The search terms used were “(腰椎椎間板脫出症) or 증(椎間板脫出症) or (椎間板脫出)) and ((針刀)or (針刀松解術))” and we selected only meta-analyses that were published before December 2016. From among these meta-analyses, we excluded duplicates and selected the remaining 36 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for our final analysis. Results The largest numbers of acupotomy papers were published in 2008 and 2013 (8 papers each). The average number of subjects was 120; the most common treatment method used for the control group was standard acupuncture (in 11 papers), and the most common concurrent treatment in the treatment group was massage (in 10 papers). The most common site of needle insertion was between the spinous processes, or at less than 0.5 cm on either side of the spinous processes (in 24 papers). The most common site of adhesion lysis was at the transverse process (in 24 papers). Two studies were blinded, and the mean Jadad score was 1.17. Conclusions A large number of RCTs on the use of acupotomy for lumbar disc herniation are conducted every year in China, and the procedure has been shown to be very effective, with few adverse effects. However, the average quality of the studies was not very high. Based on our study, we expect several high-quality clinical trials on acupotomy to be conducted in Korea in the future. (J Korean Med Rehabil 2017;27(2):39-54)
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