Clinical Efficacy of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in the Treatment of Eczema: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Both traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine are widely applied in the treatment of eczema, but there are few reports on integrated TCM and Western medicine for eczema. OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis carried out the evaluation on the efficacy of integrated TCM and Western medicine in the treatment of eczema. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were searched for all possible randomized controlled trials from 2000 to 2021. A meta-analysis of the included studies was also performed using Stata16 software. RESULTS: A total of 16 studies including 1946 patients were included. Compared with the control group, the pooled results of the 16 studies showed that effective rate in the treatment group was higher (OR = 4.50, 95% CI: 3.16-6.40, P < 0.05), and the pooled data of 15 studies revealed that the cure rate was increased in the treatment group (OR = 2.60, 95% CI: 2.13-3.18, P < 0.05). Additionally, compared with the control group, pooled data of 11 studies demonstrated that lesion area after treatment was reduced in the treatment group (SMD = −1.91; 95% CI: -2.51, -1.31; P < 0.05), and pooled data of 9 studies showed that the degree of pruritus after treatment in the treatment group was lower (SMD = −1.69; 95% CI: -2.07, -1.30; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In comparison with Western medicine alone, integrated TCM and Western medicine are a more effective treatment for eczema, which can not only significantly improve the effective rate and cure rate but also reduce the lesion area and degree of pruritus.