The aim of this research is to assess the effects of bee venom acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis. Methods For a systematic review, we constructed a key question as the effect of bee venom acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis and selected RCTs and nRCTs. We searched the following 15 databases without a language restriction: Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL (CENTRAL), CINAHL, AMED, seven Korean medical databases (KoreaMed, Kmbase, KISS, NDSL, KISTI, Koreantk, OASIS) and three Chinese databases including CNKI, Wanfang and VIP database. Results A total of 300 potentially relevant studies were identified; only 13 studies were selected for systematic review. Almost studies showed that bee venom acupuncture has significant effect on knee osteoarthritis. 5 studies comparing bee venom acupuncture with acupuncture were included in the meta-analysis. The effect size of standardized mean difference (SMD) was analyzed as 'small effect' with 0.47 (95% CI: 0.10∼0.83, Z=2.49, p=0.01). Conclusions The research showed that bee venom acupuncture can significantly reduce pain, stiffness and improve the quality of life of patients with knee osteoarthritis. However, most of the studies included in the analysis were evaluated as methodologically high risk of bias. This suggests that there is limitation applying this study. In the future, more Randomized Controlled trial should be actively conducted.
Objectives To evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of bee venom acupuncture for ankle sprain. (RCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) tool, while non-randomized controlled clinical trials (NRCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment tool for Non-randomized Study (RoBANS) tool. Results Four RCTs and one nRCT met our inclusion criteria. Almost studies showed that bee venom acupuncture has positive effect on ankle sprain. 4 studies of same intervention and control included in the meta-analysis. When comparing bee venom acupuncture and acupuncture with acupuncture, the effect size of standardized mean difference (SMD) was -0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.95∼1.56, Z=0.55, p=0.83). And when comparing bee venom acupuncture with acupuncture, the effect size of SMD was -0.17 (95% CI: -0.65∼0.31, Z=0.71, p=0.48). Conclusions Although our systematic review found encouraging but limited evidence of bee venom acupuncture for ankle sprain, most of the studies included in the analysis were evaluated as methodologically high risk of bias. From now on further well-designed RCTs should be encouraged. .
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