Moxibustion for abdominal pain in COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease that makes breathing difficult and is often accompanied by abdominal pain and distension. Moxibustion, a special external treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, has shown beneficial effects in the treatment of abdominal pain. Currently, there is a lack of systematic reviews on moxibustion for the treatment of abdominal pain. We conduct this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of moxibustion in the treatment of abdominal pain. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion for abdominal pain in COVID-19. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials from December 2019 to December 2021 will be included, without restrictions on language or publication date. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Databases, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and VIP Database were searched. Two researchers will independently select studies, extract data, and evaluate study quality. The Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials will be used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Statistical analyses will be conducted using the RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: This study aimed to prove the efficacy and safety of moxibustion for abdominal pain in patients with COVID-19. Our study provides a more accurate treatment method for abdominal pain during COVID-19. We will publish our results in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: This study will provide more convincing evidence for clinicians to treat these conditions and help them make appropriate decisions. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study did not include personal information. Ethical approval was not required for this study. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2021120104.