Acupoint injection treatment for primary osteoporosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials protocol

BACKGROUND: Acupoint injection has currently received increasing attention as a treatment for primary osteoporosis (POP). A number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have reported that acupoint injection have some advantages in treatment of POP. However, no article has summarized the existing evidence. This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupoint injection as a clinical treatment for POP, so as to provide an important reference for clinical decision-making. METHODS: RCTs of acupoint injection compared with conventional non-acupoint injection for POP were identified in searches of 7 databases from their inception to March 2019. All data were assessed and extracted by 2 authors independently. The risk of bias assessment recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. Review Manager 5.3 (Cochrane Collaboration) was used to conduct meta-analysis for the efficacy and safety of acupoint injection. RESULT: The results of this systemic review and meta-analysis will be submitted to a recognized journal for publication. CONCLUSION: This systemic review and meta-analysis will evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupoint injection as a clinical treatment for POP. We hope this study can make a definitive conclusion for acupoint injection in the treatment of POP. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (registration number CRD42019130890).