Effectiveness of nonsurgical treatments for trigeminal neuralgia: an overview protocol

Abstract

Purpose: to present an overview protocol for systematic reviews to synthesize and describe available evidence on the effectiveness of nonsurgical treatments for trigeminal neuralgia. Methods: the protocol follows the method proposed by PRISMA-P guidelines for protocol reports. The search will be made in MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, Cochrane, Web of Science, Scopus, SpeechBITE, PeDRO, and the grey literature (Google Scholar and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses), with no restriction on language or time of publication. A search strategy developed for MEDLINE will be adapted for each database. Two independent reviewers will screen the articles by title and abstract. Then, they will read the full texts of included articles, following the eligibility criteria. In case of disagreements, a third reviewer will come to a consensus. The data will be extracted with a standardized form. Information on the risk of bias and GRADE assessment will be recorded. AMSTAR-2 will assess the overall result reliability of the systematic reviews. Results will be presented in a flowchart, tables, and a narrative description. Final Considerations: once carried out, this protocol will describe the current body of research on the topic and identify existing gaps on the basis of evidence.