Response to letter to the editor: Comment on Corbett etal. entitled 'acupuncture and other physical treatments for the relief of pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee: Network meta-analysis'

摘要

We thank Lei and colleagues for reading our systematic review in detail and for their letter which raised both general queries, and issues relating to specific trials in our review. We will address the general queries first. In stating that our analysis represented the use of the most practical methods currently available we were not referring to the types of intervention, but to our use of network meta-analysis methods (when faced with comparing such a large number of interventions); we excluded studies of ultrasound based on clinical advice which was given with specific regard to the UK setting (the review was commissioned with the UK setting in mind).