Effectiveness and safety of warm needle acupuncture on lumbar muscles strain: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

BACKGROUND: Lumbar muscle strain (LMS) is the most common orthopedic syndrome, with high incidence globally and lingering disease, which seriously affects patients’ work efficiency and quality of life. Warm needle acupuncture (WNA) is a treatment method combining acupuncture technology with warm and medicinal effect of moxibustion. It has outstanding curative effect and wide range of treatment, especially in the treatment of pain diseases. We aim to collect clinical evidence and demonstrate the efficacy and safety of WNA on LMS. METHODS/DESIGN: We will search the following database sources for the randomized controlled trials: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Web of Science, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (TCTRP), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP), and the Wanfang Database. All randomized controlled trials of WNA for lumbar muscle strain (LMS) in the above database will be considered for inclusion, and high-quality articles will be screened for data extraction and analysis, to summarize the therapeutic effect of WNA on LMS patients. RESULT: This study will provide a rational synthesis of current evidences for warm needle acupuncture on lumbar muscle strain. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this study will provide evidence to judge the effectiveness and safety of WNA on LMS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: INPLASY2020120100 (DOI number: 10.37766/inplasy2020.12.0100).