The efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine Guilu Erxian Jiao in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: A systematic review was conducted to investigate the efficacy of Guilu Erxian Jiao (GEJ) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese Electronic Periodical Services, and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify relevant randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials, from the inception of each source to April 20, 2021. Primary outcome included overall efficacy, pain score, and Lequesne index score; secondary outcome included adverse events. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (RoB 1.0). The meta-analysis was performed based on a random-effects model due to anticipated clinical heterogeneity. The grading of overall evidence was assessed using the GRADE system. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021233573). RESULTS: Eight studies were included. Compared to controls, GEJ exhibited superior overall efficacy for treating OA (risk ratio (RR) = 1.20; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06-1.35). Regarding pain score, there was no statistical difference between GEJ and controls (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.27; 95% CI = -0.91 - 1.46). No significant difference was found in Lequesne score between GEJ and controls (MD = -0.25; 95% CI = -0.52 - 0.01). No statistical difference in adverse reactions was observed between GEJ and controls (risk difference (RD) = -0.01; 95% CI = -0.05-0.03). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that GEJ may have positive effects on overall efficacy in treating OA. However, there is insufficient evidence regarding pain score, Lequesne score, and knee joint function score.

Correction of Breech Presentation with Moxibustion and Acupuncture: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Acupuncture-type interventions (such as moxibustion and acupuncture) at Bladder 67 (BL67, Zhiyin point) have been proposed to have positive effects on breech presentation. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion and acupuncture in correcting breech presentation. We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS), and databases at ClinicalTrials.gov to identify relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In this study, sixteen RCTs involving 2555 participants were included. Compared to control, moxibustion significantly increased cephalic presentation at birth (RR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.21-1.58). Moxibustion also seemed to elicit better clinical outcomes in the Asian population (RR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.21-1.67) than in the non-Asian population (RR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.01-1.43). The effects of acupuncture on correcting breech presentation after sensitivity analysis were inconsistent relative to control. The effect of moxibustion plus acupuncture was synergistic for correcting breech presentation (RR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.26-1.86) in one RCT. Our findings suggest that moxibustion therapy has positive effects on correcting breech presentation, especially in the Asian population.