Electroacupuncture combined with qibei mixture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome: A randomized controlled trial

Acupuncture in addition to usual care for patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a component network meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The efficacy of acupuncture alone in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is controversial, but the benefit of acupuncture added to usual care has rarely been studied. We aimed to examine the benefit of acupuncture added to usual care through network meta-analysis (NMA).

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were searched from their inception to 1 July 2021, without any language restriction. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing the effect of acupuncture alone or acupuncture combined with usual care for IBS were included. The primary outcome was improvement of global IBS symptoms. Standard NMA was performed to compare differential combinations of acupuncture (including manual acupuncture (MA) and electroacupuncture (EA)), and component network meta-analysis (CNMA) was subsequently performed to determine whether acupuncture provided additional benefits to usual care. The effect size of an intervention was measured using relative ratio (RR).

RESULTS

We included 25 RCTs (n = 3041 participants) after screening 582 retrieved articles. Five RCTs were classified as low risk of bias. The results of standard NMA showed that MA combined with usual care ranked the most effective (sham acupuncture as common comparator; RR = 1.96 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23 to 3.12)). The results of CNMA showed that MA was the most effective component (RR = 1.38 (95% CI, 1.12 to 1.70)) when added to usual care.

CONCLUSION

Acupuncture provided additional benefits to usual care, and it might be considered as adjunctive therapy for patients who respond inadequately to usual care.

Comparison between the Effects of Acupuncture Relative to Other Controls on Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

Background

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with recurrent abdominal pain and altered defecation habits. We here attempted to determine the effect of acupuncture on IBS.

Methods

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of science, and ClinicalTrials.gov till July 17, 2019 were searched. Outcomes were total efficacy rates, overall IBS symptom scores, or global quality of life scores. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI were calculated for meta-analysis.

Results

We included 41 RCTs involving 3440 participants for analysis. 8 RCTs compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture, among which 3 trials confirmed the biological effects of acupuncture, especially in treating abdominal pain, discomfort, and stool frequency. No significant difference was found when acupuncture was compared with sham acupuncture, in terms of effects on IBS symptoms and quality of life (SMD = 0.18, 95% CI −0.26∼0.63, P=0.42; SMD = −0.10, 95% CI −0.31∼0.11, P=0.35), but the pooled efficacy rate data showed a better outcome for true acupuncture (RR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.01∼1.47, P=0.04), which was not supported by sensitivity analysis. Acupuncture was more effective relative to western medicine in alleviating IBS symptoms (RR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.12∼1.23, I² = 0%, P < 0.00001), whose effect might last 3 months. Besides, acupuncture as an adjunct to western medicine, Chinese medications, or tuina was superior over the single latter treatment (RR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.40, P=0.004; 1.19, 1.03 to 1.36, P=0.02; 1.36, 1.08 to 1.72, P=0.009, respectively), with high heterogeneities.

Conclusions

Relative to sham controls, acupuncture showed no superiority for treating IBS, while the advantage over western medicine was significant. Acupuncture could be used as an adjunct in clinical settings to improve efficacy. Future high-quality and large-sample-size studies with adequate quantity-effect design need to be conducted.

Fecal microbiota transplantation for patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A meta-analysis protocol

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional bowel disease characterized by chronic or recurrent abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. Many patients with IBS have a poor quality of life due to abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, constipation, and the presence of other diseases. At present, intestinal motility inhibitors, adsorbents, astringents, intestinal mucosal protective agents, and antidepressants have been combined to treat IBS, but the treatment process is long, which results in a large economic burden to patients. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a treatment involving the transplantation of functional bacteria from healthy human feces into the gastrointestinal tract of patients; thus, replacing the intestinal flora and modulating intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. In recent years, the efficacy and economic benefits of FMT in the treatment of IBS have received increasing attention from researchers.A search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on treating IBS with FMT will be performed using 9 databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, ClinicalTrails, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Sino Med, ScienceDirect, VIP, and Wanfang Data. Two reviewers will independently screen data extraction studies and assess study quality and risk of bias. The risk of bias for each RCT will be assessed against the Cochrane Handbook standards to assess methodological quality. RevMan V.5.3 software will be used to calculate data synthesis when meta-analysis is allowed.This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of existing evidence on the effectiveness and safety of FMT in the treatment of IBS.This study will determine if FMT is an effective and safe intervention for IBS.PROSPERO registration number is PROSPERO CRD42018108080.