Acupoint catgut embedding therapy for functional constipation: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

This review will assess current evidence related to the effectiveness and safety of acupoint catgut embedding therapy for functional constipation (FC) and provide efficacy assessments for clinical applications.

METHODS

We will search the following databases for relevant trials: PubMed, EMBASE OVID, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, OVID MEDLINE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane library, and Scopus. We will also search the following Chinese databases for trials published in the Chinese literature: China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Database, Wan Fang Database, Chinese Biomedicine and other resources from inception to December 2020. Only randomized controlled trials comparing acupoint catgut embedding versus acupuncture or sham acupuncture or placebo or other therapies will be included. The outcomes involved mean spontaneous bowel movements, complete spontaneous bowel movements, the Bristol Stool Form Scale, the Cleveland Clinic Score, Patient Assessment of Constipation symptom and so on. The risk of bias assessment and quality of evidence for outcomes will be appraised using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines. RevMan 5.3 software will be employed for the meta-analysis.

RESULTS

This work will compare and arrange the comparative efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding with different treatments for FC by summarizing the current evidences.

CONCLUSION

The results of this meta-analysis may help doctors determine the best treatments for patients to manage FC.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This is a protocol with no patient recruitment and personal information collection, approval by the ethics committee is not required.

OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER

DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/XTKE2.

[Effect of acupoint catgut embedding therapy on joint attention and social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled trial]

OBJECTIVE

To compare the clinical effect on the joint attention and social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the combined treatment of acupoint catgut embedding therapy with rehabilitation training and the simple application of rehabilitation training.

METHODS

A total of 60 children with ASD were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. In the control group, the routine ASD rehabilitation training was adopted, including conductive education, speech training and music therapy, once a day. In the observation group, on the base of the treatment as the control group, the catgut embedding therapy was applied to Shenting (GV 24), Baihui (GV 20), Shenmen (HT 7) and the optic area (the point of scalp acupuncture), once a week. In the two groups, the treatment for 4 weeks was as one course, at the interval of 1 week between the courses. A total of 3 courses of treatment were required. The social domain of the autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC) and the autism behavior checklist (ABC) were adopted to assess the therapeutic effect of the two groups.

RESULTS

After treatment, the scores of each item of the social domain in ATEC and the scores of ABC (feeling, communication, physical movement, language and healthy behavior) were all lower than those before treatment in the two groups (P<0.01). The scores of each item in the observation group were lower than those in the control group after treatment (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

The combined treatment of acupoint catgut embedding therapy with the rehabilitation training effectively improves in the joint attention and social communication. The therapeutic effect of this combined treatment is better than the simple application of rehabilitation training.