Effectiveness of warm needling acupuncture for pain relief in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A protocol of systematic review

BACKGROUND: Warm needling acupuncture (WNA) has been widely utilized for pain management in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). However, its results are still inconsistent, and no systematic review has specifically addressed this issue. Thus, this systematic review will comprehensively and systematically investigate the effectiveness and safety of WNA for pain relief in DPN. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, CBM database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure will be performed for randomized controlled trials that report WNA for pain relief in patients with DPN. All electronic databases will be searched from initial to the present without limitations of language and publication status. Two investigators will independently screen papers, collect data, and assess study quality. Cochrane risk of bias tool will be used for study quality assessment, and evidence quality will be evaluated using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluations approach. RevMan 5.3 software will be applied for running statistical analysis. RESULTS: This study will summarize the evidence for the effectiveness and safety of WNA for the management of pain in patients with DPN. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study may provide helpful evidence to judge whether WNA for pain relief in DPN is effective or not.