Acupotomy therapy for lumbar disc herniation: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Artificial Intelligence-Based CT Imaging on Diagnosis of Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation by Scalpel Treatment

The aim of this study was to explore the application effect of computed tomography (CT) image based on active contour segmentation algorithm in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) with scalpel. 78 patients with LDH were selected and divided into a lateral crypt block treatment group (group A) and a scalpel treatment group (group B) randomly. All the patients were examined by lumbar CT images based on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. Then, the clinical efficacy and Japanese orthopedic association (JOA) and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were compared between the two groups. It was found that the total effective rate in group B was higher (92.31% vs. 84.62%) (P < 0.05). After treatment, the disc height (DH) in group A was obviously lower, and the vertebral body slippage was obviously higher (P < 0.05) than before. After treatment, there were more patients with nerve root location changes, edema, or disappearance in group B (P < 0.05). In contrast with JOA and VAS scores before treatment, both the groups showed obvious differences after treatment, especially group B (P < 0.05). Therefore, the CT images based on the AI algorithm can be used to analyze the treatment effect of LDH, and the scalpel treatment was more effective.

Effect of the combinative use of acupotomy therapy and ultrasonic drug penetration in treating knee joint osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION

Knee joint osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that affects the health in aging population.

AIM

We explore a minimally invasive surgery combining the use of ultrasonic drug penetration to treat early stage of knee joint osteoarthritis.

DESIGN

In total, 75 patients were participated in acupotomy therapy and ultrasonic drug penetration to treat joint osteoarthritis.

METHODS

The WOMAC (the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) scores were used to assess the performance.

RESULTS

There was a significant difference in the WOMAC score between the two groups of patients (P < 0.05). The total performance rate was about 86.4% and 50% in experiment and control groups.

CONCLUSION

The combination of acupotomy therapy and ultrasonic drug penetration has demonstrated to be effective and promising to treat knee joint osteoarthritis.

Tuina for lumbar disc herniation: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is an important factor of causing leg pain and numbness. As a secondary discipline of Traditional Chinese Medicine, tuina is widely used for the treatment of LDH in China even in other nations while its clinical value is not acknowledged universally. So, we focus on this article aims to evaluate its efficacy and safety of LDH.

METHODS

Electronic databases involving Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, China Science and Technology Journal, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database will be pertained with appropriate search strategy. And RevMan V.5.3.5 software will be conducted as the assessment tool for bias risk, data synthesis, subgroup analysis as well as meta-analyses.

RESULTS

This systematic review will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence of tuina for LDH.

CONCLUSION

This protocol will determine whether Tuina is an effective and safe treatment method for LDH.

Effectiveness comparisons of Chinese patent medicine on sciatica: A protocol for systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Sciatica is one of the common clinical diseases. Studies have proved the efficacy of Chinese patent medicine (CPM) in the treatment of sciatica, so far, there has not been a complete systematic review of its effectiveness and safety, and the comparative efficacy and safety of CPM have not been ranked. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CPM by means of systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA), and to compare them in order.

METHODS

We will search PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM and other databases for RCTs of CPM in the treatment of sciatica, (database established until December 30, 2020). In addition, we will manually search the "Pharmaceutical Information", "National Essential Drug List", "Chinese Pharmacopoeia", etc. to inquire about drug instructions, and screen the market circulation and clinically commonly used CPM. We will use RevMan software, gemtc package, GeMTC software for statistical analysis, and draw the surface under cumulative ranking area (SUCRA) to predict the order of curative effect of treatment measures.

RESULTS

Our study will compare and evaluate the effectiveness of CPM in the treatment of sciatica, and rank different CPM. The outcome indicators will include clinical efficacy, pain degree, lumbar spine function and adverse events.

CONCLUSION

Our research will provide support for clinical practice.

INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER

INPLASY2020110073.

Medical students vs general public awareness regarding disc prolapse in Jeddah

BACKGROUND

Disc herniation is a condition where tearing occurs in the outer annular layer of the intervertebral pad leading the inner gel-like material to bulge ouwards the spinal cord, due to the high load of the vertebrae. This will produce back pain and symptoms in different sites according to the level of the herniation in the vertebral column.

AIM

To compare the level of awareness regarding disc herniation among the general population and medical students in Jeddah.

METHODOLOGY

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted through an electronic questionnaire to assess the level of awareness regarding disc prolapse among the general population and medical students in Jeddah. The questionnaire was in the Arabic language, it was taken and validated by the previous study which took place in Taif.

RESULTS

Our studied sample involved 1026 individuals aged between 11 and 99 years, with a mean age of 34.03 ± 13.28 years old. More than half of the respondents were female (55.4%), most of them were Saudi nationals (90.1%), and most of them have received a higher education (67.7%). Results showed that 54.1% of the general population and 77.7% of medical students reported good knowledge regarding this condition.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that the level of awareness regarding disc prolapse among the general population and medical students was poor in some respects such as: knowledge about the preventive measures, symptoms of the disease, the most common site in the spine affected by the disease, and the gold standard imaging method to diagnose this disease.

The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common disease that seriously affects patients' quality of life. Although several articles have reported that acupuncture can improve the symptoms of LDH, different guidelines do not evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture consistently, new randomized controlled trials have been published in recent years.The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for LDH.

METHOD

Electronic resource databases, trial registration platform, and different types of grey literature will be systematically searched for eligible studies by 2 authors independently. The type of trial will be limited to randomized controlled trials on acupuncture treatment for LDH. Search strategy will be a combination of terms associated with LDH (eg, low back pain or sciatica) and study of design (eg, randomized controlled trials or clinical trial). Data from homogeneous studies will be combined in a fixed-effects model, and the evidence level will be measured by grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation.

RESULTS

This study will provide high-quality evidence to evaluate the relief of pain intensity and improvement of dysfunction of acupuncture in patients with LDH, and to evaluate the safety of acupuncture.

CONCLUSION

This study will provide strong evidence for evaluating whether acupuncture therapy is effective and safe for LDH patients.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD 42019137399.

A comparison between acupotomy vs the local steroid injection for the management of soft tissue disorder: A systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND

This systematic review protocol aims to provide the methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of acupotomy therapy for treating soft tissue disorder comparing to local steroid injection.

METHODS

Fifteen databases will be searched from inception to Dec 2019. We will include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing acupotomy for soft tissue disorder. All RCTs on acupotomy or related interventions will be included. Study inclusion, data extraction and quality assessment will be performed independently by two reviewers. Assessment of risk of bias and data synthesis will be performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Cochrane criteria for risk-of-bias will be used to assess the methodological quality of the trials.

RESULTS

This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of pain visual analog scale and functional disability or the quality of life, the success treatment rate, the recurrent rate, and the complications rate to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy for soft tissue disorder patients compare to local steroid injection.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether acupotomy is an effective intervention for patients with soft tissue disorder.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42018109080.

Acupotomy versus acupuncture for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR) is the most common pattern of cervical spondylosis, which is a serious and common degenerative disease. Both acupotomy and acupuncture have been widely used clinically to treat CSR in China with satisfied efficacy. However, there is no systematic review comparing the effectiveness of these two therapies. The aim of this study is to compare the therapeutic efficacy and safety between acupotomy and acupuncture for patients with CSR to provide evidence for clinical practice.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The following electronic databases will be searched: Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure , China Biology Medicine disc, Wanfang Database and Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP). The randomised controlled trials of acupotomy versus acupuncture with/without additional treatment for CSR will be searched in the databases from their inception to December 2018 by two researchers independently. Visual analogue scale, symptom score and neck disability index will be assessed as the primary outcomes. The total effective rate, curative rate, adverse events and amount of rescue medication used will be assessed as the secondary outcomes. The Review Manager 5.3 will be used for meta-analysis and the evidence level will be assessed by using the method for Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. Continuous outcomes will be presented as the weighted mean difference or standardised mean difference with 95% CI, whereas dichotomous data will be expressed as relative risk with 95% CI. If the included studies have existing heterogeneity (p<0.05), then a random-effects model will be used. Otherwise, we will calculate using a fixed-effects model.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval is not required because no primary data are collected. This review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and will be presented at an international academic conference for dissemination.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42019117348.