Electroacupuncture for Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Table 1

Demographic characteristics of the included studies.

Included study	Sex (M/F)		Age (years)		Course of disease		Degree of injury		Segment of injury
	EA group	Control group	EA group	Control group	EA group	Control group	EA group	Control group	EA group	Control group
Gu et al. [22]	26/6	27/3	41.2 ± 8.2	39.8 ± 7.6	28 .8 ± 11.7 d	30 .3 ± 17.6 d	ASIA-A:11, B:15, C:4, D:2, E:0	ASIA-A:9, B:16, C:3, D:2, E:0	Cervical: 4	Cervical: 2
									Thoracic: 24	Thoracic: 26
									Cauda equina: 4	Cauda equina: 2
Feng et al. [23]	13/7	15/5	38.10 ± 7.95	38.90 ± 7.08	71.85 ± 6.96 d	67.50 ± 6.41 d	ASIA-ICI:13, CI:7	ASIA-ICI:15, CI: 5	T2-T5: 2	T2-T5: 1
									T6-T12: 9	T6-T12: 10
									L1-L3: 7	L1-L3: 6
									L4-S1: 2	L4-S1: 3
Wang [24]	56/27	59/24	21–65	22–67	31–98 d	35–102 d	ASIA-motor score: 60.10 ± 4.66	ASIA-motor score: 57.35 ± 4.22	NM	NM
							ASIA-tactile score: 76.45 ± 2.69	ASIA-tactile score: 74.25 ± 4.85
							ASIA-pain score:	ASIA-pain score:
							74.50 ± 8.17	75.05 ± 6.66
							ASIA-ICI:62, CI:21	ASIA-ICI: 64, CI:19
							ASIA-motor score: 42.16 ± 9.68	ASIA-motor score: 44.23 ± 11.28
							ASIA-tactile score: 56.76 ± 10.32	ASIA-tactile score: 58.81 ± 12.13
							ASIA-pain score:	ASIA-pain score:
							56.43 ± 10.25	58.49 ± 11.96
Jiang and Chen [25]	21/9	19/11	34 ± 13	34 ± 12	3.1 ± 0.5 d	3.0 ± 0.5 d	Frankel-B:8, C:13, D:9, E:0	Frankel-B:7, C:13, D:10, E:0	C3-C4: 2	C3-C4: 2
									C4-C5: 4	C4-C5: 4
									C5-C6: 8	C5-C6: 7
									C6-C7: 9	C6-C7: 10
									C3-C5: 1	C3-C5: 1
									C4-C6: 3	C4-C6: 3
									C5-C7: 3	C5-C7: 3
Ou [26]	23/19	24/18	43.6 ± 8.7	41.2 ± 9.4	38.1 ± 16.8 d	36.7 ± 15.4 d	ASIA-B:14, C:19, D:9,	ASIA-B:13, C:21, D:8	Cervical: 10	Cervical: 11
									Thoracic: 15	Pectoral: 14
									Lumbar: 17	Lumbar: 17
Guo et al. [27]	12/18	17/13	51.80 ± 8.47	52.57 ± 7.95	6.26 ± 2.66 m	5.80 ± 2.88 m	ASIA-C:19, D:11,	ASIA-C:17, D:13	NM	NM
Li and Chi [28]	15/5	14/6	40 ± 11	45 ± 10	14–30 d	LLMSS-I:1, II:3, III:16	LLMSS-I:1, II:1, III:18	T8–T10	T8-T10	T8-T10
Deng Lao [29]	12/8	11/9	21–55	23–60	＜1 m: 3, 1–3 m: 5, 4–6 m: 12	＜1 m: 2, 1–3 m: 7, 4–6 m: 11	ASIA-motor score: 68.12 ± 5.02	ASIA-motor score: 66.23 ± 6.19	T9-L1	T9-L1
							ASIA-C and D	ASIA-C and D
Yang et al. [30]	NM	NM	NM	ASIA-motor score: 16.02 ± 5.52	ASIA-motor score: 15.67 ± 5.21	T10-L1	T10-L1
									MAS: 0.33 ± 0.17	MAS: 0.32 ± 0.10
Wong et al. [31]	41/9	39/11	35.1 ± 13.0	34.7 ± 13.1	58.6 ± 17.1 d	57.1 ± 18.7 d	ASIA-A:28, B:22	ASIA-A:32, B:18	Quadriplegia: 19	Quadriplegia: 18
							ASIA-motor score: 41.0 ± 21.5	ASIA-motor score: 41.0 ± 17.7	Paraplegia: 31	Paraplegia: 32
							ASIA-tactile score: 63.0 ± 23.2	ASIA-tactile score: 60.8 ± 24.4
							ASIA-pain score:	ASIA-pain score:
							60.8 ± 27.7	59.1 ± 24.9

Note: d, day; m, month; ICI, incomplete injury; CI, complete injury; ASIA, American Spinal Injury Association; NM, not mentioned; LLMSS, lower limb muscle strength score; MAS, modified Ashworth score.