Effectiveness of acupuncture for multiple sclerosis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by white matter inflammatory demyelination in the central nervous system (CNS). Its clinical manifestations include decreased vision, diplopia, and limb weakness. As a green and simple traditional Chinese medicine method, acupuncture is gradually recognized by the public. At present, there is still a lack of systematic evaluation on acupuncture treatment of MS. This study aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of MS, in order to provide a basis for clinical decision-making. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for MS will be searched in the relevant database, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), WanFang Database, China Biology Medicine Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP), regardless of publication date, or language. All relevant RCTs of electronic searches will be exported to EndNote X9.1 software. Data analysis will be performed using RevMan 5.4 and STATA 14.2 software. RESULTS: Our study aims to explore the efficacy of acupuncture for MS and to provide up-to-date evidence for clinical of MS. We will publish our research results in peer review journals. CONCLUSION: This study will perform a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of acupuncture for MS, making up for the lack of relevant evidence of the clinical use of acupuncture.