Herbal medicine for Behcet's disease: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Herbal medicine treatment is often recommended in order to raise immunity levels and reduce the possibility of recurrence of symptoms, and treating the fundamental causes of the disease. This systematic review will assess the efficacy of herbal medicine in treating Behcet's disease. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search the following 11 electronic databases from their inception: PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL; 3 Chinese databases (CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP); and 5 Korean databases (OASIS, DBpia, RISS, KISS, and KoreaMed). The data will be extracted independently by 2 authors using predefined criteria. Disagreements will be resolved by discussion between the authors. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane tool for assessing risk of bias. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval will not be required, given that this protocol is for a systematic review. The review will be published in a journal. Updates of the review will be conducted periodically to inform and guide healthcare practice and policy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018085493