• Xiankun Zhao, Yuxiao Fang, Jing Ye, Feng Qin, Wenzhu Lu, and Hanlin Gong.
• Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 May 21; 100 (20): e25760e25760.

BackgroundModified Runchang-Tang (MRCT), a Chinese herbal medicine, is widely used to treat functional constipation (FC), which is a common digestive system disease. However, its efficacy has not been evaluated systematically and objectively. Thus, a meta-analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of MRCT for treating functional constipation.MethodsWe searched for relevant publications from Embase, Medline, The Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database, and Wanfang Data for relevant literature. The timeframe of retrieval was set from the founding date of each database to July 15, 2020.ResultA total of 26 randomized controlled trials with 2103 individuals were included in this meta-analysis. All trials were conducted in mainland China and were written in Chinese. The results showed that MRCT monotherapy provided better symptom relief in FC patients compared to prokinetic agent monotherapy (odds ratio, [OR] = 4.06), osmotic laxatives (OR = 4.39) and stimulant laxatives (OR = 2.99). Additionally, there were no obvious adverse effects in MRCT group compared with control group.ConclusionMRCT treatment is an efficient and safe treatment for FC. However, considering the limitations of this study, further well-designed randomized controlled trials are required to validate this conclusion.Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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