• Xiaoying Zhong, Jiaxin Liu, Yanping Wang, Linzi Zhang, and Honglai Zhang.
• School of Medical Information Engineering.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Mar 26; 100 (12): e25199e25199.

IntroductionLumbar disc herniation (LDH) is the most common cause of low back pain and severely affects people's quality of life and ability to work. Although many clinical trials and medical reports conducted over the years have shown that acupuncture treatments are effective for LDH, the comparative effectiveness of these different acupuncture therapies is still unclear. This protocol of a network meta-analysis was designed to compare the effects and safety of acupuncture treatment regimens on LDH using both direct and indirect evidence.Methods And AnalysisThis protocol is reported according to the 2015 PRISMA-P and PRISMA guidelines for acupuncture. Eight databases and two platforms will be searched for articles published from their establishment to 1 December 2020 with medical subject heading terms and keywords. Three reviewers will verify the eligible randomized controlled trials independently. NoteExpress (3.2.0) software will be utilized to manage the literature. The overall quality of evidence will be evaluated by Confidence In Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA). Additionally, we will conduct a meta-analysis of the effectiveness, recurrence rate, and symptom score of acupuncture in treating LDH using Review Manager (RevManV.5.4.1) and R4.0.2 software (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing).ResultsThe results of the study will be published in journals or relevant conferences.ConclusionThis proposed systematic review will evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of various acupuncture methods and combination protocols for LDH.Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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