Effectiveness comparisons of Chinese patent medicine on sciatica: A protocol for systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Sciatica is one of the common clinical diseases. Studies have proved the efficacy of Chinese patent medicine (CPM) in the treatment of sciatica, so far, there has not been a complete systematic review of its effectiveness and safety, and the comparative efficacy and safety of CPM have not been ranked. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these CPM by means of systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA), and to compare them in order. METHODS: We will search PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM and other databases for RCTs of CPM in the treatment of sciatica, (database established until December 30, 2020). In addition, we will manually search the “Pharmaceutical Information”, “National Essential Drug List”, “Chinese Pharmacopoeia”, etc. to inquire about drug instructions, and screen the market circulation and clinically commonly used CPM. We will use RevMan software, gemtc package, GeMTC software for statistical analysis, and draw the surface under cumulative ranking area (SUCRA) to predict the order of curative effect of treatment measures. RESULTS: Our study will compare and evaluate the effectiveness of CPM in the treatment of sciatica, and rank different CPM. The outcome indicators will include clinical efficacy, pain degree, lumbar spine function and adverse events. CONCLUSION: Our research will provide support for clinical practice. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020110073.