The clinical efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: A protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The objective of this meta-analysis was to summarize and identify the available evidence from studies to estimate the clinical value of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) and provides clinicians with evidence on which to base their clinical decision making. METHODS: This review will include all studies comparing clinical efficacy of TCM in the treatment of RAS. The search strategy will be performed in 9 databases. We will not establish any limitations to language and publication status, published from inception to the August 2020. Two reviewers will screen, select studies, extract data, and assess quality independently. Outcome is clinical efficacy, pain relief, duration of wound healing, effect on wound healing, rate of recurrence, adverse events, and safety. The methodological quality including the risk of bias of the included studies will be evaluated. We will carry out statistical analysis using RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: This study will summarize current evidence to assess the efficacy and safety of TCM in the treatment of RAS. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will provide helpful evidence for the clinician, and will promote further studies, as well as studying the value of TCM. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202080126 (DOI number: 10.37766/inplasy2020.8.0126).