Acupuncture therapies for postherpetic neuralgia: a protocol for a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common sequela of herpes zoster, and it is often refractory to guideline-recommended treatments. Acupuncture therapy, a wildly applied complementary-alternative treatment, may help in the management of PHN. Diverse types of acupuncture therapy for PHN have been proposed, however, their comparative efficacies remain unclear. This study protocol plans to compare the efficacy and safety of different acupuncture therapies for PHN. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database, Wanfang Database, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov, Chinese Clinical Trial Register and OpenGrey will be searched from their inception to January 2022. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy on the management of PHN will be selected. The primary outcome is pain intensity. Secondary outcomes include negative emotions, sleep condition, quality of life and adverse events. Reviewers will conduct study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment procedures. Then, standard pair-wised meta-analysis and Bayesian network meta-analysis will be performed (if applicable). The Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis application will be used to assess the confidence in the evidence for the primary outcome. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: All data used for this study will be extracted from published RCTs, thus, no ethical approval will be required. The results of this systematic review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal and conference presentation. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020219576.

Acupuncture and related therapies for carpal tunnel syndrome: A protocol for systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common peripheral nerve compression syndrome of the upper limb. Plenty of studies showed the effects of acupuncture therapy on relieving pain and improving functional status for CTS patients. Diverse types of acupuncture therapies have been used in the treatment for CTS, but their relative treatment effects are poorly understood. This study will evaluate the effects of different acupuncture and related therapies for CTS by conducting a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA). METHODS: We will search randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture and related therapies for CTS in MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database, Wanfang Database, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov, Chinese Clinical Trial Register, and OpenGrey from inception to November 2021. Then, we will select eligible studies, extract data, and conduct risk of bias assessment using the Cochrane tool. Pairwise meta-analysis and Bayesian NMA will be performed in Stata 15.1 software and Aggregate Data Drug Information System 1.16.8 software. We will assess the quality of the evidence using the Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis application. RESULTS: In this study, the treatment effects and safety of different acupuncture and related therapies for CTS will be evaluated. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence for choosing the optimal acupuncture and related therapies in the treatment for CTS.

Acupuncture for treating chronic stable angina pectoris associated anxiety and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Despite that acupuncture is effective in treating anxiety, depression and chronic stable angina pectoris (CSAP), it remains unclear whether acupuncture can treat CSAP, anxiety and depression simultaneously. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy of acupuncture on CSAP-associated anxiety and depression. METHODS: Eight electronic databases were searched to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or controlled clinical trials (i.e. "acupuncture alone or combined with standard care" versus " sham acupuncture alone, sham acupuncture with standard care, or standard care alone") from their inception to January 2021, which included PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang Database. Data were extracted and meta analyses were performed using the RevMan 5.3. Risk of bias (ROB) 2.0 was used for methodological quality assessment. GRADEprofiler 3.2.2 was used to rate the quality of evidence. RESULTS: Seven trials involving 893 subjects were included. Meta-analysis results showed that acupuncture combined with standard care was more effective in relieving anxiety and depression, reducing angina attack frequency, and angina pain intensity than sham acupuncture with standard care and standard care alone. In addition, the effect remained until 16 weeks after acupuncture. The safety of acupuncture for CSAP-associated anxiety and depression was also high. Nonetheless, the quality of evidence ranged from low to moderate. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture may be used as an adjunctive therapy to treat CSAP-associated anxiety and depression. However, more high-quality RCTs are required to confirm our findings.

Investigating Prescriptions and Mechanisms of Acupuncture for Chronic Stable Angina Pectoris: An Association Rule Mining and Network Analysis Study.

Chronic stable angina pectoris (CSAP) is a worldwide cardiovascular disease that severely affects people's quality of life and causes serious cardiovascular accidents. Although acupuncture had been confirmed as a potential adjunctive treatment for CSAP, the basic rules and mechanisms of acupoints were little understood. We conducted a systematic search of the China Biology Medicine (CBM), VIP database, Wangfang database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science to identify eligible clinical controlled trials (CCTs) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), from their inception to 18th February 2020. The acupoint prescriptions in the treatment of CSAP were extracted and analyzed based on the association rule mining (ARM) and network analysis. In addition, potential mechanisms of acupuncture for treating CSAP were summarized by data mining. A total of 27 eligible trials were included. Analysis of acupoint prescriptions covered 36 conventional acupoints and 1 experience acupoint, distributing in 10 meridians. The top three frequently used acupoints were PC6, LU9, and ST36. The top three frequently used meridians were the pericardial meridian, lung meridian, and heart meridian. The most frequently used acupoint combinations were LU9 combined with PC6. Besides, network analysis indicated that the core acupoints included PC6, BL15, ST40, and RN17. Moreover, potential mechanisms of acupuncture for treating CSAP involved the regulation of autonomic nerve function, the content of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), volume and the equivalent block of coronary artery calcified plaque (CACP), endothelin (ET), and nitric oxide (NO), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the content of C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). In conclusion, our findings concerning acupoint prescriptions and potential mechanisms in the acupuncture treatment of CSAP could provide an optimized acupuncture treatment plan for clinical treatment of CSAP and promote further mechanism research and network research of CSAP.

Acupuncture for treating chronic stable angina pectoris-associated anxiety and depression: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: There are numerous studies worldwide on the use of acupuncture as complementary therapy for chronic stable angina pectoris (CSAP). However, the high morbidity of CSAP-associated anxiety and depression is often overlooked. This protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess whether acupuncture is effective as a complementary therapy for anxiety and depression in patients with CSAP. METHODS: The following 8 databases will be searched from inception to February 2020 with no language restrictions: PubMed, Excerpt Medical Database, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database and Wanfang Database. Eligible randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials will be included. Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment will be performed independently by 2 reviewers, differences will be resolved by the third reviewer. The primary outcomes include the level of anxiety or depression measured by qualified scales, angina attack frequency, and angina pain intensity. Revman 5.3 software will be used to perform the assessment of the risk of bias and data synthesis. The review will grade the quality of the evidence based on the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. RESULTS: This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide reliable evidence about the effect and safety of acupuncture as a complementary therapy for CSAP-associated anxiety and depression. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This review will not involve private information of participants, so the ethical approval will not be required. The results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal or conference presentation. Important protocol modifications will be updated on PROSPERO. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020165492.