Evaluating the Efficacy and Adverse Effects of Clearing Heat and Removing Dampness Method of Traditional Chinese Medicine by Comparison with Western Medicine in Patients with Gout

Objective. In China, the method of clearing heat and removing dampness medicine of Chinese traditional medicine has been widely used on gout. However, the clinical effects are various and not summarized systematically. Methods. In this study, a large number of randomized controlled clinical trials were reviewed and analyzed and the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of traditional Chinese medicine with clearing heat and removing dampness effects for the treatment of gout were systematically evaluated. A comprehensive search of databases including pubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang Data, and SinoMed was performed. Results. There are 69 randomized controlled trials with 5915 sample sizes meeting the criteria in the study. The results of the meta-analysis indicate that the effects of clearing heat and removing dampness medicine were slightly better than western medicine in the treatment of gout based on the following parameters: serum uric acid (standardized mean difference (SMD):-62.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): -78.12 to-46.15), C reactive protein (SMD: -4.21, 95% CI: -6.19 to -2.23), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (SMD: -6.23, 95% CI: -8.39 to-4.06), and overall clinical response (relative risk (RR): 1.11, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.15) and, in the profile of adverse drug reactions, the clearing heat and removing dampness medicine showed less adverse reactions than traditional Western medicine (RR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.32). Conclusions. Through a systemic evaluation of the clinical efficacy of the clearing heat and removing dampness medicine of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine on gout, the clearing heat and removing dampness medicine and western medicine possessed similar clinical efficacy, but traditional Chinese medicine treatments are superior to western medicine in controlling adverse reactions.