The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Treating Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture- (OVCF-) Induced Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

Background. Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) are common health issues in the elderly that cause chronic pain in over one-third of patients. This study was sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for alleviating pain caused by OVCFs. Methods. We performed a search of 8 electronic databases for publications from the inception to 30th March 2021. Eligible studies were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effect of acupuncture for the treatment of OVCFs. Two investigators evaluated literature quality and extracted data independently. RevMan V.5.4.1 was used for data analyses, with pooled risk estimates presented as mean difference (MD) or relative risk (RR) along with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), as appropriate. Results. Fourteen RCTs involving 1,130 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with the control group, acupuncture showed a greater benefit on pain reduction caused by OVCFs (1 week: MD = −1.26, 95% CI: (−1.82,−0.70); 1 month: MD = −1.63, 95% CI: (−1.82,−1.43); 6 months: MD = −1.13, 95% CI: (−1.55, −0.70)). Acupuncture treatment was also associated with fewer adverse events, lower ODI index, and higher bone density than the control group (safety: (RR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.12–0.75); ODI: MD = −3.19, 95% CI: (−5.20, −1.19); bone density: MD = 0.15, 95% CI: (0.05, 0.26)). The GRADE quality of these results was assessed as low or very low. Conclusions. Compared with the control treatment, acupuncture was more effective and safer in relieving the pain caused by OVCF and made a greater improvement on patient’s ODI score and bone density. Given the low level of our study evidence, future high-quality studies are needed to verify our study findings.