INTRODUCTION: Acupuncture, in particular, has received increasing attention in pain management in traditional medicine treatments. This study evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating nape back myofascial pain syndrome (MPS).
METHODS: The literature on randomized controlled trials of acupuncture in the treatment of nape back MPS was retrieved by searching nine databases. Review Manager 5.4 software was used to merge and statistically analyze the extracted data, and Stata 18.0 was used to assess the risk of bias.
RESULTS: Finally, 10 randomized controlled trials were included, with a total of 624 samples. The meta-analysis results indicated that acupuncture therapy could lower the NDI score [MD=-6.64, 95% CI (-10.95, -2.33), Z = 3.02, P = 0.003]. Acupuncture demonstrated superiority over the control group in addressing nape back myofascial pain condition, which reflected that the VAS score of the acupuncture treatment group was significantly lower than that of other treatment controls [SMD=-0.71, 95% CI (-1.07, -0.36), Z = 3.94, P < 0.0001]. Furthermore, in contrast to the control group, the improvement of PPT and right flexion CROM and rotation CROM in the acupuncture group was more evident (PPT: [MD = 0.95, 95% CI (0.63, 1.27), P < 0.001]) (right flexion CROM: [MD = 4.86, 95% CI (1.61, 8.12), P = 0.003]), (rotation CROM: [MD = 0.52, 95% CI (0.43,0.61), P < 0.00001]).
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that acupuncture is more effective in treating nape back MPS than the control group and provides strong evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating nape back MPS, filling a gap in the treatment of nape back MPS by Traditional Chinese Medicine.
| Discipline Area | Score |
|---|---|
| Physician |  |
Physician rater
Acupuncture could be an effective, safe, and superior treatment modality for reducing pain and improving function in patients with nape back myofascial pain syndrome compared with conventional therapies. However, the methodologic limitations of the included studies and the finding of publication bias make the conclusions not generalizable until more methodologically "robust" studies are conducted.
Physician rater
Acupuncture is presented as a safe and effective treatment option for nape back MPS, offering an alternative to pharmacological therapies that carry risks of side effects. Further research and standardization in acupuncture protocols to manage this syndrome are needed.
Physician rater
While the meta-analysis suggests acupuncture may benefit nape back MPS, the high heterogeneity, small sample sizes, and lack of rigorous blinding raise concerns about bias and placebo effects. The subjective nature of outcome measures further limits definitive conclusions. Without sham-controlled trials and clearer mechanistic explanations, skepticism is warranted in the eyes of evidence-based Western medicine.
Physician rater
From a pain physician’s perspective, this meta-analysis is notable for focusing specifically on acupuncture for nape back myofascial pain syndrome, a subset of chronic neck pain often overlooked in research. While the study has limitations in blinding and sample size, it introduces relevant functional outcomes (NDI, CROM) and highlights acupuncture’s favorable safety profile. Its novelty lies in systematically comparing acupuncture with both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments — an important step toward evidence-based integration in pain care.
Ms. Dora Laurent (5/3/2025 11:04 AM)
This systematic evidence-based study shows that acupuncture is a safe short-term alternative to oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to treat nape back MPS. However, small sample sizes, subjective efficacy evaluation, and the lack of studies on the mechanism of action by which acupuncture relieves pain merit further more rigorous, standardised and larger-sample clinical studies to evaluate the short- and long-term safety and efficacy of this method.
, McMaster University