A meta-analysis of the clinical efficacy of the combination of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the treatment of haemorrhoids

Zeng M, Cheng X, Chen G, Kou J · Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research · 2019 June 01

DOI 10.3727/036012919X15650315071915

Objective

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of the treatment of combination of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in haemorrhoids by meta-analysis, which provide a scientific, effective and feasible evidence for clinical decision-making and practice.

Conclusions

The treatment of combination of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in haemorrhoids is more useful than Chinese medicine alone applied in piles, which is shown in 91% of clinical effects in average.

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Insights

Acupuncture in conjunction with Chinese medicine has shown a higher efficiency compared to only Chinese medicine in haemorrhoids treatment.

The research adopted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials using Review Manager 5.3. It highlighted and evaluated trials where the combined treatment of acupuncture and Chinese medicine was compared against Chinese medicine alone for haemorrhoids. The parameters taken into account for the outcomes of this analysis included the effective rate, recurrence rate, and symptom scores before and after treatment. These symptoms comprised perianal edema, hemafecia, perianal pain, pruritus ani, and prolapse of haemorrhoids. The results from the trials included in this meta-analysis, showed a distinct improvement in clinical efficacy for the combined use of acupuncture and Chinese medicine over just Chinese medicine alone in the treatment of haemorrhoids. Not only was the effective rate higher, but the recurrence rate was lower. Furthermore, there was significant improvement in all the assessed symptoms – perianal edema, hemafecia, perianal pain, pruritus ani, and prolapse of haemorrhoids - showing a more comprehensive treatment impact. The experiment's combined treatment displayed a 7% higher efficiency compared to the control group just using Chinese medicine.