Traditional Chinese medicine combined with western medicine for the treatment of secondary pulmonary tuberculosis: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the differences between traditional Chinese medicine combined with western medicine and western medicine alone for the treatment of secondary tuberculosis and its impact on the evaluation of clinical efficacy and safety of patients in randomized controlled trials. METHODS: A literature search of all major academic databases was conducted (PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP). Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software for those studies that satisfied the inclusion criteria. Ethical approval was not necessary because no people or animals were selected as subjects in this meta-analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-three randomized controlled trials were included in this meta-analysis. The following indicators in the treatment group (traditional Chinese medicine decoction combined with western medicine chemotherapy) improved in comparison with those in the control group:focus absorption rate (RR:1.18; 95% CI: 1.15–1.22);sputum smear negative rate (RR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.09–1.27);comprehensive clinical effective rate (RR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.14–1.22);cavity closure rate (RR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.12–1.67). The difference of Immune function indicator likes CD4+ level (SMD: 0.76; 95% CI: −0.25 to 1.76) between the treatment group and the control group was not significant. In addition, safety evaluation indicators like the decrease rate of white blood cell (WBC) and platelets (PLT) and the elevation rate of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and uric acid (UA) in the treatment group were reduced compared with those in the control group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The curative effect of combining traditional Chinese and western medicine for the treatment of secondary tuberculosis is better than that of western medicine alone and is conducive to reducing the incidence of adverse reactions.