The effectiveness of thunder fire moxibustion for treating allergic rhinitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic disease, resulting in severe syndromes such as sneezing, itching, nasal blockage, and rhinorrhea. The major medications treating AR cause side effects, while thunder fire moxibustion (TFM) is known as a safe and effective treatment for AR. Thus, this systematic review and meta analysis aims to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of TFM in the treatment of AR. METHODS: Nine databases, including Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), WanFang Database (WF), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) from inception to July 2020 will be searched. In addition, the grey literature and the references of all included literature will be retrieved manually. Reviewers will identify studies, extract data and assess the quality independently. The outcomes of interest include: total nasal symptom score, total non-nasal symptom score, rhinitis quality of life questionnaire, visual analog scale, Laboratory indicators: serum immunoglobulin E, immunoglobulin A, or immunoglobulin G level and adverse events. Randomized clinical trials will be collected, methodological quality will be evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool, and the level of evidence will be rated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Meta-analysis will be performed using RevMan5.3.0 software. RESULTS: Because the review is ongoing, no results can be reported. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this review will provide reliable evidence for effectiveness and safety of TFM for AR. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval requirements are not necessary for this review. This systematic review and meta analysis will be disseminated online and on paper to help guide the clinical practice better. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019141113