| | Study | Publicationyear | Country | Sample | Intervention | Age (years) | Sex (M/F) | Onset of SCI | ASIA grade | Injured spinal segments | Acupunctureprotocol | Outcome measure | | C | E | C | E | C | E | C | E | C | E |
| | Zheng et al. [25] | 2021 | China | 35 | 35 | Rehabilitative + drug | Rehabilitative + drug + acupuncture | 36.35 ± 10.82 | 38.48 ± 11.40 | 18/17 | 20/15 | (5.08 ± 0.84) (m) | (4.64 ± 0.68) (m) | Not mentioned | Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar region | Electroacupuncture (2 Hz) at “Jiaji” (EX-B2) + scalp acupuncture at the motor, sensory, spiritual, and emotional areas of Jiao’s; the treatment duration was 30 minutes, once a day for 28 consecutive days | VAS | | Cheng [26] | 2018 | China | 27 | 27 | Drug | Drug + acupuncture | 47.98 ± 5.27 | 48. 16 ± 5.12 | 18/9 | 17/10 | (4.91 ± 1.05) (m) | (5.11 ± 0.87) (m) | Not mentioned | Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar region | Electroacupuncture (sparse and dense waves) at “Jiaji” (EX-B2); the treatment duration was 30 minutes, once a day for 25 consecutive days | VAS, PRI, PPI | | Chen et al. [27] | 2014 | China | 18 | 18 | Drug | Acupuncture | 18–62 | 20/16 | With a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of 50 years | ABCD | Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar region | Electroacupuncture (sparse and dense waves) at “Governor Vessel” acupoints; the treatment duration was 30 minutes, once a day for 30 consecutive days | VAS, PRI, PPI | | Chen et al. [28] | 2015 | China | 23 | 23 | Rehabilitative + drug | Rehabilitative + drug + acupuncture | 38.2 ± 9.6 | 20/26 | (2.5 ± 0.8) (m) | Not Mentioned | Not mentioned | Acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), He-Gu (LI4), and Ashi points, 6 times a week for 4 weeks | VAS, PRI, PPI | | Fang et al. [29] | 2016 | China | 30 | 30 | Drug + massage | Drug + massage + acupuncture | 38.2 ± 6.1 | 44/16 | (3.8 ± 0.4) (m) | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Electroacupuncture at “Jiaji” (EX-B2); the treatment duration was 30 minutes, once a day for 20–30 days based on clinical need | VAS, PPI | | Irene et al. [30] | 2017 | USA | 8 | 12 | Rehabilitative + drug | Rehabilitative + drug + acupuncture | 46.1 | 41.1 | 6/2 | 10/2 | 13 years | 7.6 years | ABCD | Not mentioned | Auricular acupuncture at the anterior cingulate, thalamus, omega-2, Shen Men, point zero; the treatment duration was 3-7 days, once a week for 8 weeks | NRS |
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m, months; C, control group; E, experimental group; VAS, visual analogue scale; NRS, numeric rating scale; PPI, present pain intensity; PRI, pain region index.
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