Acupuncture therapies for postherpetic neuralgia: a protocol for a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common sequela of herpes zoster, and it is often refractory to guideline-recommended treatments. Acupuncture therapy, a wildly applied complementary-alternative treatment, may help in the management of PHN. Diverse types of acupuncture therapy for PHN have been proposed, however, their comparative efficacies remain unclear. This study protocol plans to compare the efficacy and safety of different acupuncture therapies for PHN. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database, Wanfang Database, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov, Chinese Clinical Trial Register and OpenGrey will be searched from their inception to January 2022. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy on the management of PHN will be selected. The primary outcome is pain intensity. Secondary outcomes include negative emotions, sleep condition, quality of life and adverse events. Reviewers will conduct study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment procedures. Then, standard pair-wised meta-analysis and Bayesian network meta-analysis will be performed (if applicable). The Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis application will be used to assess the confidence in the evidence for the primary outcome. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: All data used for this study will be extracted from published RCTs, thus, no ethical approval will be required. The results of this systematic review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal and conference presentation. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020219576.