Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids

Gan T, Liu Y, Wang Y, Yang J · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2010 October 06

Objective

To assess the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids and the adverse effects caused by these herbs.

Conclusions

This review did not provide strong evidence concerning the effectiveness of TCMHs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids.

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Insights

Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs may alleviate some symptoms of haemorrhoids, including bleeding and inflammation.

The research methodology comprised an expansive literature search across various databases for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) focused on Chinese herbs in treating bleeding haemorrhoids. The selected trials were evaluated by two independent researchers, who extracted the necessary data and analysed it using RevMan 5.0 software. The findings from nine trials encompassing 1822 patients with bleeding haemorrhoids were discussed. These trials, although of varying quality, investigated either a Chinese herb formulation versus another herb (Type I) or western medicines (Type II). While not all the trials employed the same interventions for comparison, a significant improvement in the overall curative effects and severity of symptoms was found in six trials using Chinese medicinal herbs. These herbs showed effectiveness in reducing symptoms such as bleeding, inflammation of the perianal mucosa, and congested haemorrhoidal cushions. Adverse effects reported were minimal and not serious.