• Lingling Guo, Liang Li, Xiuli Li, Linghan Li, Lijin Zhang, and Haixia Zhang.
• Osteopathy Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, Shandong, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Jan 6; 102 (1): e32543e32543.

BackgroundThere are more and more clinical studies on the efficacy of warm acupuncture in treating sciatica, but the systematic review of the efficacy of warm acupuncture is still lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of warm acupuncture combined with conventional Western medicine in the treatment of sciatica.MethodsThe review was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42022379486) and was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The following databases will be used to search the existing literature (from inception to January 2023): Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Wanfang, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, China Knowledge Network, and SPORT-Discus. Included studies are considered eligible if they met the population, intervention, comparator, outcomes, and study design criteria as follows: Population: patients with newly diagnosed sciatica; Intervention: warm acupuncture combined with conventional Western medicine; Comparator: Western medicine alone; Outcomes: total response rate, pain score and pain threshold, adverse events and recurrence rate. Study design: randomized controlled trials or non-randomized cohort studies. Review Manager (RevMan) V.5.3 will be used to perform statistical analyses and to generate forest plots.ResultsThe review will add to the existing literature by showing compelling evidence and improved guidance in clinic settings.Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

20 keywords...

hide…