The efficacy and safety of acupuncture or combined with western medicine for dry eye: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: As a traditional Chinese medicine external treatment method, acupuncture is characterized by simple operation, significant treatment effect and few side effects. Dry eye, also known as conjunctival xerosis, refers to pathological changes in tissues of ocular surface caused by abnormal tear quality and quantity or dynamics due to various reasons, which can cause red and swollen eyes, congestion, and severe cases may result in lesions of the conjunctiva. Clinical practice shows that acupuncture has a certain therapeutic effect on dry eye, but there is a lack of medical evidence. The objective of the research carried out in this program is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with western medicine in the treatment of dry eye. METHODS: Computer retrieval English database (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library) and Chinese database (CNKI, WF, VIP, CBMDISC), moreover manual retrieval of clinical research on the treatment of dry eyes by acupuncture in combination with western medicine from Baidu academic and Google Academic from database building to May 2020, the quality included in the study was evaluated and data extraction was completed by 2 independent researchers. RevMan5.3 software was utilized for meta-analysis to the included literature. RESULTS: In this study, the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with western medicine in the treatment of dry eye were evaluated by several indicators, such as the score of the ocular surface disease index, the amount of tear secretion and the tear film rupture time. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide reliable evidence for the clinical application of acupuncture combined with western medicine in the treatment of dry eyes. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/5DJ9W.