Effectiveness comparisons of catgut implantation at acupoint for obese type 2 diabetes: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND: With the change of people's life style, many more people are suffering from obese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Acupoint catgut embedding is one of the acupuncture treatment principles in traditional Chinese medicine, which is widely used in the treatment of obese T2DM. However, there is no systematic review of the therapeutic effect of acupoint catgut embedding on obesity T2DM. Therefore, this article aims at the meta-analysis of acupoint catgut embedding in the treatment of obese T2DM, to clarify its curative effect. METHODS: A structured and systemic literature search was conducted in the following databases up to December 1, 2019: PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science, EMBASE, CNKI, Wanfang Database. We will use the Review Manager 5.3 software provided by Cochrane collaborative network for statistical analysis. Then we assessed the quality and risk of the included studies and observed the outcome measures. RESULTS: This meta-analysis will further determine the beneficial efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding on obesity T2DM. CONCLUSION: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to explore the effect of acupoint catgut embedding intervention on obese T2DM patients, and provide more options for clinicians and patients to treat obese T2DM. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systemic review will evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupoint catgut embedding in the treatment of obesity T2DM. Since all the data included are published, the systematic review does not need ethical approval. REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020160801.