Acupuncture for the Treatment of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A PRISMA-Compliant Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a highly prevalent disease associated with poor quality of life. In this paper, we appraised the role of acupuncture in the treatment of CRS. Methods. Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) that examined the role of acupuncture in CRS. The primary outcome measures included posttreatment CRS severity, as measured by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Total Effective Rate (TER). The risk of bias and quality of evidence were evaluated according to the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk-of-bias tool and GRADE tool, respectively. Results. Evidence from the RCTs (n = 10) suggested that acupuncture as a monotherapy or adjunctive therapy to conventional treatment was associated with significant improvements in VAS, TER, and quality of life when compared with conventional treatments for CRS. However, there was a similar incidence of adverse events. The risk of bias was unclear and the quality of evidence for each finding was generally moderate to low. Conclusions. Acupuncture as a stand-alone or adjunctive treatment for CRS was associated with clinical symptom improvement and better quality of life, without any risk for serious adverse events. However, the high clinical heterogeneity of the included RCTs and overall moderate-to-low quality of evidence necessitates rigorous, well-designed trials to confirm these findings. Trial Registrations. This trial is registered with PROSPERO (no. CRD42021292135).

Integrating Acupuncture into a Dialysis Center

“…Furthermore, its effectiveness in improving FC and HRQOL has been verified [20,21]. Despite the limited number of randomized clinical trials examining the safety and efficacy of acupuncture in CKD patients receiving maintenance HD, these parameters have been extensively investigated and established across diverse medical conditions [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Nevertheless, the results of a recent review and meta-analysis indicate that acupuncture may be a safe and effective therapeutic alternative for uremic pruritus in patients undergoing HD.…”