Traditional Chinese medicine therapies for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: A protocol for Bayesian network meta-analysis

Review question / Objective: P: Patients diagnosed with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR). I: The treatmen group will be treated with traditional Chinese medicine therapies (with/without additional treatment) including acupuncture of several types (acupuncture, acupoint sticking, acupoint injection, electroacupuncture and so on), massage, cervical traction, fire needle, traditional Chinese medicine hot compress, or their combination. No restrictions are imposed on length of the treatment period, times of treatment, and frequency of treatment. C: The traditional Chinese medicine therapies (with/without additional treatment) including acupuncture of several types (acupuncture, acupoint sticking, acupoint injection, electroacupuncture and so on), massage, cervical traction, fire needle, traditional Chinese medicine hot compress, or their combination will be included in this review. S: Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be included.

Zusanli (ST36) Acupoint Injection With Dexamethasone for Chemotherapy-Induced Myelosuppression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ObjectiveMyelosuppression is the most common adverse reaction of chemotherapy, which seriously affects the course of treatment. Zusanli (ST36) acupoint injection with dexamethasone has achieved good clinical efficacy in China. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the efficacy of ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression (CIM).MethodsRandomized controlled trials of CIM treated with ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone were retrieved from eight electronic databases. We used the Cochrane Collaboration tool to assess the risk of bias. Excel 2010 was used to establish a database for information extraction, and RevMan 5.3.0 software was used to analyze the included test data. GRADE profiler 3.6 software was used to grade the quality of evidence for the outcome indicators of the study.ResultsA total of 17 studies involving 1177 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that, compared with conventional western medicine (CWM), ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone could significantly improve the clinical total effective rate [RR=1.95, 95% CI (1.53, 2.49), P <0.00001] and increase white blood cell (WBC) (MD=1.38, 95% CI (0.74, 2.01), P<0.0001) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels [MD=3.89, 95% CI (1.57, 6.20), P=0.001]. In addition, ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone can shorten recovery time of myelosuppression [MD=-3.94, 95% CI (-4.97 to -2.91), P<0.00001] and improve Karnofsky performance status [MD=10.7, 95% CI (1.36, 20.05), P=0.02<0.05]. However, there was no significant difference among ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone and CWM in platelet (PLT) elevation [MD=4.61, 95% CI (-10.14, 19.35), P=0.54].ConclusionThis study found that ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone had a positive effect on CIM. However, more studies with well-designed, large sample size, strict randomization, and clear descriptions about detection and reporting processes are needed in the future to further confirm the efficacy of ST36 acupoint injection with dexamethasone in the treatment of CIM.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/, identifier CRD42021223979.

Acupoint Injection for Alleviating Side Effects of Chemotherapy in People with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of acupoint injection for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy in people with cancer. Methods. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library databases, CNKI, VIP, WanFang Date, and CBM were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception through December 28, 2020. This meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3. Results. A total of 8 RCTs including 557 participants were eligible and included in the meta-analysis. The selected RCTs studied acupoint injection for alleviating side effects of chemotherapy in people with cancer. Statistically significant improvements were observed for the incidence of nausea and vomiting (RR = 0.39; 95% CI 0.26, 0.58; P < 0.00001), the number of leukocyte (MD = 1.89; 95%CI 0.74, 3.03; P = 0.001), and the number of platelet (MD = 28.82; 95%CI 19.33, 38.30; P < 0.00001). Two of these studies suggested that acupoint injection can also reduce some other adverse reactions, which showed a statistical difference (RR = 0.29; 95% CI 0.11, 0.75; P = 0.01). Conclusion. The analysis indicated that acupoint injection can alleviate side effects of chemotherapy in people with cancer. However, due to the high risk of bias and small sample size in the included studies, the results need to be further confirmed by further large, rigorously designed trials.

Therapeutic Effect of Changqiang Acupoint Injection on Children with Functional Fecal Incontinence

<B>Objective:</B> Functional fecal incontinence in children (FFIC), also known as functional fecal disorder in children, is a type of childhood diseases characterized by excretory dysfunction. In the study, we observed the clinical effect of Changqiang acupoint injection on functional fecal incontinence in children (FFIC) by randomized controlled clinical trials. <BR><B>Materials and methods:</B> 140 children with functional fecal incontinence who met the screening criteria were respectively assigned into the treatment group (100 cases) and the control group (40 cases) according to the completely randomized controlled design. In the treatment group, Chuankezhi injection was administrated at the Changqiang acupoint once a week for three weeks (one course of treatment). In contrast, the subjects in the control group was instructed to receive sphincter exercise and defecation training, followed by an assessment on the therapeutic efficacy after one course of treatment. <BR><B>Results:</B> The overall response rate of the two groups was 93.00% (93/100) and 57.50% (23/40), respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.01). The treatment group showed a performance superior to the control group based on the Cleveland Clinic Florida Fecal Incontinence Score System (CCF-FI)—dry stool incontinence, liquid incontinence, gas incontinence, lifestyle change, necessity of using pads or antidiarrheals, the ability to delay defecation, and the total score. The inter-group comparison revealed a statistically significant difference (P<0.01). <BR><B>Conclusion:</B>Changqiang acupoint injection has significant curative effect on FFIC as demonstrated by significant relief in the symptoms associated with fecal incontinence, and thus is considered as a useful approach to be widely applied in clinical practice.