A comparison of the effects of Chinese non-pharmaceutical therapies for pain control in knee osteoarthritis: A protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease, leading to pain and functional limitation in the elderly. The non-pharmaceutical therapy is recommended firstly by different guidelines for KOA management strategies. In China, there are various forms of non-pharmaceutical treatments for KOA, which are considered beneficial in relieving KOA pain. However, there is no consensus on which is the optimal non-pharmaceutical regimens. Thus, present network meta-analysis aims to assess the comparative efficacy of available Chinese non-pharmaceutical therapies, especially in pain management. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, Web of Science, China national knowledge infrastructure, VIP, Wan Fang will be systematically searched their inception to April 2020. Randomized controlled trials that compared the effect of non-pharmaceutical therapies on pain control in KOA will be included, including traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture, warming needle, fired needle, acupuncture followed by moxibustion, moxibustion and massage. The primary outcome was the knee pain levels, and secondary outcome was the comprehensive indicators. Risk of bias assessment of the included studies will be performed according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The pairwise and network meta-analysis will be performed by STATA 14.0 and GeMTC softwares. RESULTS: This study is ongoing and will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: This study will provide a comprehensive evidence on the effects of Chinese non-pharmaceutical therapies for pain control in KOA. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018106575