Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicinal enemas for treatment of chronic renal failure: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a common kidney disease characterized by a slow and progressive decline in kidney function. Clinical practice suggests that traditional Chinese medicinal enemas have a therapeutic effect on CRF. To assess the therapeutic efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicinal enemas in treating CRF, we created a protocol for a systematic review to inform future clinical applications. METHODS: We completed a literature search of all clinical randomized controlled trials evaluating traditional Chinese medicinal enemas on CRF in the following five English and four Chinese databases completed before August 2020: Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Library database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANE Database, Chinese Scientific and Technological Periodical Database (VIP) and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM). The primary outcomes evaluated blood urea nitrogen levels, uric acid levels, endogenous creatinine clearance rate, and serum creatinine, and the secondary outcomes included clinical efficacy and adverse effects of treatment. Two independent researchers performed data extraction and quality assessment. RevMan5.3 software was used to assess data quality and bias. This protocol was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) statement. RESULTS: This study will provide a rational synthesis of current evidence for traditional Chinese medicinal enemas for the treatment of CRF. CONCLUSION: This study presents evidence on whether traditional Chinese medicinal enemas are an effective and safe intervention for CRF patients. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202080052