RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Ischaemic stroke is a common neurological disease and a leading cause of severe disability and death in developed countries. In most cases, stroke is thought to be a multifactorial disorder or complex trait for which classic patterns of inheritance cannot be shown. Xuesaitong is one of the most commonly used medicines for treating ischemic stroke in China. However, compared to the conventional therapy, the effectiveness and safety of Xuesaitong for ischemic stroke needs to be further systematically reviewed and determined. METHODS: Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the use of the Xuesaitong soft capsule in the treatment of patients with ischemic stroke were identified from databases, including the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. Next, 2 researchers independently extracted information from the included studies, analyzed the data using STATA 15.0 software, and evaluated the quality of the included studies using RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: A total of 17 RCTs (comprising 1,942 patients with ischemic stroke) were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis results showed that the Xuesaitong soft capsule treatment increased patients' total effective rate compared to conventional or other drug treatments, and improved patients' Clinical Severity Score (CSS scores) or Barthel index (BI) score. A further subgroup analysis stratified by different treatment times showed that Xuesaitong soft capsule treatment at 4 and 8 weeks improved CSS scores more than treatment at 2 weeks in patients with ischemic stroke. Additionally, the Xuesaitong soft capsule also significantly improved plasma viscosity, whole-blood viscosity at high and low shear rates, fibrinogen, hematocrit, and the effect on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) single symptoms or signs in patients with ischemic stroke. DISCUSSION: In summary, compared to conventional or other drug treatments, the Xuesaitong soft capsule treatment was beneficial in improving patients' TCM symptoms (e.g., crooked mouth and tongue, and dizziness) and various indicators. Further, Xuesaitong soft capsule may be a safe and effective drug for the treatment of ischemic stroke. And large-scale randomized clinical trials are needed to further confirm our findings.