The clinical efficacy of acupoint sticking combined with massage to treatment functional dyspepsia: 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 acupoint sticking combined with massage (ASM) in the treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD), and provide clinicians with evidence on which to base their clinical decision making. METHODS: This review will include all studies comparing clinical efficacy of ASM in the treatment of FD. The search strategy will be performed in 10 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 alleviation of global dyspeptic symptoms, alleviation of individual dyspeptic symptoms, quality-of-life improvement, 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 ASM in the treatment of FD. 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 ASM. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020110072 (DOI number: 10.37766/inplasy2020.11.0072).