Acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine is more efficacious in treating gastric ulcers than just Chinese herbal medicine alone.
In this study, a broad search was executed in both Chinese and international databases to locate relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effectiveness of acupuncture, in conjunction with Chinese herbal medicine, as a treatment for gastric ulcers. Criteria such as efficacy rates, recurrence rates, eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori, gastrin levels, and adverse events were taken into account. Using an established risk assessment tool, each study was evaluated for quality before the collated data was analyzed using dedicated software.
In the study's results, it was found that a total of 17 RCTs, encompassing 1632 patients, met eligibility requirements for the meta-analysis. The results indicated that the use of acupuncture in tandem with Chinese herbal medicine surpassed non-acupuncture Chinese medicine approaches in several measures. These included overall efficacy, eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori, recurrence rate, and gastrin levels, implying that acupuncture may be an effective complementary therapy. Additionally, there was no reported increase in adverse events, pointing towards a seemingly favorable safety profile in clinical applications.
