The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common disease that seriously affects patients’ quality of life. Although several articles have reported that acupuncture can improve the symptoms of LDH, different guidelines do not evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture consistently, new randomized controlled trials have been published in recent years. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for LDH. METHOD: Electronic resource databases, trial registration platform, and different types of grey literature will be systematically searched for eligible studies by 2 authors independently. The type of trial will be limited to randomized controlled trials on acupuncture treatment for LDH. Search strategy will be a combination of terms associated with LDH (eg, low back pain or sciatica) and study of design (eg, randomized controlled trials or clinical trial). Data from homogeneous studies will be combined in a fixed-effects model, and the evidence level will be measured by grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation. RESULTS: This study will provide high-quality evidence to evaluate the relief of pain intensity and improvement of dysfunction of acupuncture in patients with LDH, and to evaluate the safety of acupuncture. CONCLUSION: This study will provide strong evidence for evaluating whether acupuncture therapy is effective and safe for LDH patients. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD 42019137399.