Choi SH, Song HS, Hwang J. Herbal medicine for external use in acute gouty arthritis: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis.
Medicine (Baltimore) 2023;
102:e34936. [PMID:
37713880 PMCID:
PMC10508450 DOI:
10.1097/md.0000000000034936]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Acute gouty arthritis is accompanied by severe pain during an acute attack. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines acting directly on the affected area of acute gouty arthritis for external use.
METHODS
An envelope search was performed using 4 electronic databases (CNKI, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane), resulting in 27 clinical studies from inception to February 2023. Randomized controlled trials on external use herbal medicines for acute gouty arthritis were considered. The assessed outcomes were total effective rate, uric acid level, pain score, and inflammatory factor levels such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. Quality assessment and meta-analysis of the included randomized controlled trials were also performed.
RESULTS
Twenty-seven randomized controlled trials with a total of 1951 participants were included in the meta-analysis. All assessed outcomes including pain, inflammation, and uric acid levels, indicated that the treatment effects in the external use herbal medicine group were significantly better than those of the western medicine control group. Of the 10 studies mentioning side effects, no side effects were reported in 4, and in the remaining 6, the incidence of complications in the intervention group was much lower than that in the control group.
CONCLUSIONS
This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that external use herbal medicines may be a safe and effective alternative for treatment of pain and symptoms of acute gouty arthritis. However, owing to the heterogeneity of interventions, outcomes, and regional bias, further high-quality clinical trials on this topic are needed to confirm the level of evidence.
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