Efficacy and safety of moxibustion for benign prostatic hyperplasia: A protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a non-malignant enlargement of the prostate gland that is common in older men. The clinical manifestations of BPH are frequent urination, urgency, incomplete dribbling of urine, and urinary retention. Moxibustion, as a convenient, safe and effective method, has been widely applied in the clinical treatment of BPH. The study aim to assess the efficacy and safety of moxibustion for BPH. METHODS: The following electronic databases will be searched regardless of language and publication status: Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, China Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database, and Wanfang Database, to select studies that meet the requirements. The study will consist of a prospective randomised controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of moxibustion in the treatment of BPH, language of publication does not have barrier of blinding or restrictions, adverse events will be assessed and reported for safety assessment. Two reviewers will independently conduct and screen all included studies and the meta-analysis will be performed with RevMan V5.3. RESULTS: The study will provide a high-quality convincing assessment of efficacy and safety of moxibustion for BPH. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this study will provide the latest evidence for judging whether moxibustion is effective and safe in the treatment of BPH. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2021120021.