Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram of the study selection process. CNKI, China National Knowledge Infrastructure; CiNii, Citation Information by NII; KISS, Korean Studies Information Service System; OASIS, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System; RCT, randomized controlled trial.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Risk-of-bias summary.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Risk-of-bias graph.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Effectiveness rate of (A) arc-edge acupuncture, (B) acupotomy add-on, and (C) acupotomy add-on. CI, confidence interval; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Visual analog scale of (A) acupuncture, (B) acupotomy, and (C) acupotomy add-on. SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Quinnell grade of (A) arc-edge acupuncture, (B) acupotomy, and (C) acupotomy add-on. SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Numerical Rating Scale of arc-edge acupuncture. SD, standard deviation; CI, confidence interval.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Recurrence rate of (A) acupotomy and (B) acupotomy add-on. CI, confidence interval.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Adverse events of acupotomy compared with conventional surgery. CI, confidence interval.|@|~(^,^)~|@|Funnel plot of the effectiveness rate of acupotomy. SE, standard error; OR, odds ratio.

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