Acupuncture or massage therapy as treatment for occipital neuralgia
WorkSafeBC Evidence-Based Practice Group, Martin CW
Record ID 32018005434
English
Authors' objectives:
To determine whether there is any evidence to support the efficacy and/or effectiveness of acupuncture or massage therapy as treatment for occipital neuralgia or occipital nerve entrapment.
Authors' results and conclusions:
Ten published studies were identified from the search for the use of massage therapy as treatment for occipital neuralgia patients (i.e. results from search No. 1). After examining the titles and abstracts of these ten published studies, one study was thought to be relevant and was retrieved in full for further appraisal. However, this expert review (level of evidence 5. Appendix 1) on occipital neuralgia did not provide any information on the role of massage therapy in treating occipital neuralgia and will not be discussed further. Thirty-five published studies were identified from search No. 2 on acupuncture and occipital neuralgia. The titles and abstracts of these thirty-five studies indicated seven studies were potentially relevant and were retrieved in full for further appraisal. Of these seven retrieved studies, four studies were not relevant and will not be discussed further. Manual searches on the references of the eight studies that were retrieved in full did not identify any other primary study potentially relevant to the objective of this systematic review. Hence, only three studies, all investigating the use of acupuncture, were relevant and are discussed further below. At present, there is no data showing the efficacy and/or effectiveness of massage in treating occipital neuralgia.
Authors' methods:
A comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted on December 3, 2021. The search was done on commercial medical literature where a combinations of keywords were employed in this search. No limitations, such as on the language and date of publication were implemented in any of these searches.
Details
Project Status:
Completed
URL for project:
https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/research-services/evidence-based-medicine-and-systematic-reviews
Year Published:
2021
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Mini HTA
Country:
Canada
MeSH Terms
- Neuralgia
- Massage
- Acupuncture
- Acupuncture Therapy
- Neck Pain
- Headache
Keywords
- Occipital ADJ nerve
- entrapment
- neuralgia
- massage
- acupuncture
Contact
Organisation Name:
WorkSafeBC
Contact Address:
6591 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC, V7C 1C6 Canada. Tel: 604-231-8417; Fax: 604-279-7698
Contact Name:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Contact Email:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Copyright:
WorkSafe BC
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.