Publication Name	World Journal of Methodology
Manuscript ID	117496
Country	China

Category	Medicine, General & Internal
Manuscript Type	Meta-Analysis
Article Title	Needle knife therapy for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Yi-Ming Zhang, Rui-Guo Li, Xiao-Hong Zhang, Zhan-You Wang, Huan-Huan Xu, Xiao-Fan Li and Zi-Wei Zhang
Funding Agency and Grant Number	Funding Agency Grant Number Henan Province Chinese Medicine Research Project No. 2024ZY2095
Corresponding Author	Rui-Guo Li, Affiliate Associate Professor, Chief Physician, Director, Lecturer, Professor, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1 Dongming Road, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China. 3060272382@qq.com
Key Words	Needle-knife therapy; Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy; Randomized controlled trial; Systematic review; Meta-analysis
Core Tip	This study aims to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of needle-knife therapy for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy through a meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials encompassing 1184 patients. The research addresses three core issues: comparative effectiveness versus conventional treatments (acupuncture, massage, warm acupuncture), comprehensive clinical outcome assessment (effective rates, Visual Analog Scale scores, Neck Disability Index scores, and Yasushi Tanaka cervical spondylitis symptom scale 20 scores), and methodological quality evaluation using Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results demonstrate superior effective rates and improved symptom scores. Findings provide preliminary support for needle-knife therapy while emphasizing the need for larger, high-quality randomized controlled trials to validate these results.
Citation	Zhang YM, Li RG, Zhang XH, Wang ZY, Xu HH, Li XF, Zhang ZW. Needle knife therapy for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World J Methodol 2026; In press

Received	2025-12-09 00:37
Peer-Review Started	2025-12-09 00:37
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-12-25 08:25
Return for Revision	2025-12-25 08:25
Revised	2026-01-02 10:18
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2026-02-24 02:45
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-02-25 03:00
Articles in Press	2026-02-25 03:00
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	2222-0682 (online)
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