Systematic evaluation of acute herpes zoster treatment with fire needle therapy mainly / 国际中医中药杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of fire needle therapy and conventional western medicine in the treatment of patients with acute herpes zoster.Methods:Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of fire needle therapy in the treatment of acute herpes zoster were retrieved from China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), Wanfang, Database of Chinese Sci Tech Periodicals (VIP Database), China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from the establishment of the databases to May 30, 2022. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the included literature was screened, and Review Manager 5.3 was used for system evaluation and meta-analysis.Results:7 articles were included for analysis after screening, involving 452 patients. There were 226 cases in the treatment group and 226 cases in the control group. The results of meta-analysis showed that fire needle therapy was superior to conventional western medicine in the total effective rate [ RR=0.36, 95% CI (0.20, 0.65), P=0.000 7], lower incidence of PHN [ RR=0.25, 95% CI (0.09, 0.72), P=0.01], lower VAS score [ MD=-1.19, 95% CI (-2.14, -0.24), P=0.01], and shorter scab forming time [ MD=-2.03, 95% CI (-2.42, -1.64), P<0.001]. Conclusion:The curative effect of fire needle therapy is more prominent than that of conventional western medicine in the treatment of acute herpes zoster.