Effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicine formula Gualou Xiebai Banxia (GLXBBX) decoction for the treatment of stable angina pectoris: Protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Stable angina pectoris (SAP) is one of the most common symptoms of coronary heart disease. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to treat SAP increasingly due to its less side effects. The subject of this study is to explore the effectiveness and safety of Gualou Xiebai Banxia (GLXBBX) decoction as a kind of CHM for SAP. METHODS: A systematic literature search for articles up to June 2018 will be performed in following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), and Wanfang Database. Inclusion criteria are randomized controlled trials of modified GLXBBX decoction applied on patients with SAP. The primary outcome measures will be coronary heart disease-related clinical evaluation (frequency of acute attack angina, severity of angina pectoris, electrocardiographic changes, and amount of nitroglycerin) and adverse events. RevMan 5.3 software will be used for data synthesis, sensitivity analysis, metaregression, subgroup analysis, and risk of bias assessment. A funnel plot will be developed to evaluate reporting bias and Egger tests will be used to assess funnel plot symmetries. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: This systematic review study will provide an evidence of GLXBBX decoction for SAP. CONCLUSION: The study will give an explicit evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of GLXBBX decoction for SAP. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review does not require ethics approval and will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD 42018094538.