Silver acupuncture for myofascitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of silver acupuncture in treatment of myofascitis. METHODS: Electronic databases of all silver acupuncture for myofascitis will be searched at PubMed, Cochrane Library, Springer, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Chinese Biological Medical disc from inception to March 31, 2020, with language restricted in Chinese and English. The primary outcome is visual analog scale, a short pain scale with sensitivity and comparability. Secondary outcomes included Clinical Assessment Scale for Cervical Spondylosis, Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores, Oswestry dysfunction index, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society-Ankle Hindfoot scale, Foot and Ankle Ability Measure, The Cumberland ankle instability tool, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, self-rating anxiety scale, self-depression rating scale, and follow-up relapse rate. The systematic review and searches for randomized controlled trials of this therapy for myofascitis. The Cochrane RevMan V5.3 bias assessment tool is implemented to assess bias risk, data integration risk, meta-analysis risk, and subgroup analysis risk (if conditions are met). Mean difference, standard mean deviation, and binary data will be used to represent continuous results. RESULTS: This study will provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of the available evidence for the treatment of myofascitis with this therapy. CONCLUSION: This study will provide new evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and side effects of silver acupuncture for myofascitis. Due to the data are not personalized, no formal ethical approval is required. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: There is no requirement of ethical approval and it will be in print or disseminated by electronic copies. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020151476