2.2.4. Outcome Indicators

Primary outcome indicators: the primary objective of this study was to assess pain control, and pain measures included the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Numerical Rating Scale.

Secondary outcome indicators. ① The efficiency rate, which was based on the evaluation of the overall efficacy and the evaluation criteria based on the Criteria of Diagnosis and Therapeutic Effects of Diseases and Syndromes in Traditional Chinese Medicine [20] and the Guiding Principles for Clinical Research of New Chinese Medicines [21]; ② the occurrence of adverse effects.

Exclusion criteria. ① The presence of other painful conditions in the study population; ② lack of primary outcome indicators; ③ treatment protocols that included a combination of two or more acupuncture therapies, such as acupuncture combined with moxibustion, electroacupuncture combined with moxibustion, etc.; ④ duplicate published studies; and ⑤ studies for which complete data were not available in the article and relevant data were still not available after contacting the authors.