Acupuncture and herbal medicine for postoperative care following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is the primary treatment for patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Successful postoperative rehabilitation is imperative for their recovery. This protocol details the methods that will be used to systematically analyze the efficacy of acupuncture and herbal medicine for postoperative care following ACLR. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Randomized controlled trials will be searched in the following databases: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, MEDLINE/PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Japan Medical Abstracts Society, and 7 Korean databases (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korean National Assembly Digital Library, Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors, Korean Studies Information Service System, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, National Digital Science Library, and Database Periodical Information Academic). The risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane assessment tool of risk of bias. The studies that are selected after checking for eligibility will be quantitatively analyzed as a meta-analysis. The primary outcome will be the scores of pain scales, and the secondary outcomes will be the range of motion of the knee, severity of the swelling, and parameters about the knee joint function. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for this protocol because it does not include patient data. The findings of this review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications or conference presentations. REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/ZY2W8 (https://osf.io/zy2w8).