Efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with rehabilitation in the treatment of strephenopodia after stroke: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Strephenopodia is a common complication after stroke, which is easily neglected in the early stage of the disease and seriously affects the rehabilitation process of patients’ limbs, and brings huge security risks and family burden. A large number of studies have confirmed that acupuncture combined with rehabilitation (ACR) has a significant effect on strephenopodia after stroke (SAS), but there is still a lack of systematic scientific evidence to support this argument. In this systematic review, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ACR in the treatment of SAS, to provide evidence-based medical evidence for the clinical treatment of the disease. METHODS: We will search the following databases of 8 electronic databases from inception to January 2022: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science, China National Knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), Technology Periodical Database (VIP), WanFang Data, and China Biology Medicine (CBM). All relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focus on ACR in the treatment of strephenopodia after stroke will be included. The primary outcome will be the Measurement of strephenopodia angle and Clinical Spasm Index Scale (CSI). The Secondary outcomes will include Holden Functional Walking Classification (FAC), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Modified Barthel Index Score (MBI). Two reviewers will independently conduct the Study selection and data extraction. The risk of bias will be evaluated according to the Cochrane tool. Risk ratio and 95% confidence intervals will be used to estimate the efficacy of treatment, and the grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation approach to rate the certainty of evidence. The data analysis will be analyzed using by RevMan5.4. RESULT: This study will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of ACR in the treatment of SAS, with a view of providing more reliable evidence-based solutions for SAS. CONCLUSIONS: The conclusion of this study will provide evidence to judge whether ACR is effective and safe in treating SAS. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021290960.