Effects of acupuncture on rates of ovulation and pregnancy in women with unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: As a fabulous part of Oriental Medcine, acupuncture and moxibustion possesses the advantage of high safety, convenience and less adverse effects. Unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome is a common cause of infertility in women of reproductive age, which seriously affects the physical and mental health of patients. Certain studies have reported that acupuncture can improve the rate of pregnancy in women with unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome. In this protocol, the effects of acupuncture on rates of ovulation and pregnancy among women with unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome will be further explored. METHODS: Electronic bibliographic databases such as: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Global Health, The Cochrane Library (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Methodology Register), Health Technology Assessment Database, and Web of Science (Science and Social Science Citation Index), PubMed, Chinese Biomedical Databaseare, Chinese VIP Information, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), all helpful to identify relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of effects of acupuncture on rates of ovulation and pregnancy among women with unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome. The pooled odds ratio of achieving a clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, or live birth were used as the main outcome and the secondary outcome includes the changes of ovarian artery dynamics before and after treatment, so as to the adverse reactions of treatment. We will use RevMan 5.3 software to help us to analyze all data and use the Cochrane evaluation manual 5.1.0 to help us to assess the methodological quality for incorporated RCTs. RESULT: This systematic review will provide evidence for assessing the effects of acupuncture on rates of ovulation and pregnancy in women with unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will be a useful reference for clinical treatment with acupuncture to improve rates of ovulation and pregnancy among women with unruptured follicular luteinization syndrome.