Efficacy and safety of moxibustion in patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome

Abstract

Background: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a common urogenital disease. Moxibustion is a complementary treatment option for CP/CPPS. This systematic review will assess the efficacy and safety of moxibustion as a sole or add-on therapy for CP/CPPS. Methods: We will retrieve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of moxibustion for CP/CPPS from the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, VIP, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Wanfang Data, Chinese Medicine Database System, Google Scholar, Clinicaltrials.gov, and China Clinical Trial Registry from their inception to March 9, 2019, without language restrictions. RCTs comparing moxibustion with active drugs or moxibustion + drugs with these same drugs alone will be included. Primary outcomes will be the change in the total score of the National Institutes of Health's Chronic Prostatic Inflammatory States Index (NIH-CPSI) after moxibustion treatment. Secondary outcomes will include the scores of the individual NIH-CPSI domains, response to treatment of CP/CPPS, leucocyte and phosphatidylcholine corpuscle count in prostatic fluid, incidence of adverse events (AEs), and incidence of moxibustion-related AEs. The Cochrane risk of bias tool will be used for evaluating the risk of bias of individual trials. Heterogeneity will be detected by the Cochran Q test and I-square test. A random-effects model will be used to pool data in the meta-analysis. Risk ratio and weighted or standardized mean difference will be used as the effect measures. Three sets of subgroup analyses will be performed to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Where appropriate, we will assess the likelihood of publication bias based on funnel plots and quantitative tests. Results: This study will produce the systematic review evidence regarding moxibustion for treating CP/CPPS based on current RCTs. Conclusion: This study will provide a clear basis for understanding the efficacy and adverse reactions of moxibustion treatment for CP/CPPS. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019121338.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of moxibustion for chronic prostatitis

“…Although a previous similar study has addressed the moxibustion for CP, it is a protocol without results. [ 26 ] Therefore, the main objective of this study is to address this research gap and provide a comprehensive assessment of the specific effects of moxibustion for the treatment of prostatitis. By analyzing and synthesizing the existing literature, this study aims to shed light on the potential benefits of moxibustion as a therapeutic intervention for prostatitis patients.…”

The Case for Moxibustion for Painful Syndromes: History, principles and rationale

“…Its therapeutic mechanism has been studied [6,7] and it is widely used to treat various disorders [8] including correcting breech presentation [9], treating dysmenorrhea [10], constipation [11], prostatitis [12], chronic fatigue syndrome [13], osteoarthritis [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and pain, [21,22] including low-back pain [23,24] and peripheral neuropathy [25].…”

Current Treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome and Our Research

“…To our knowledge, a systematic review of acupuncture treatment of CP/ CPPS was published in 2016 [4]. A systematic review of the efficacy and safety of moxibustion in the treatment of CP/CPPS was published in 2019 [5]. In terms of drug treatment, although phytotherapy such as quercetin [6] and pollen extract [7] are reported to have a certain effect in the treatment of CP/CPPS, Chinese doctors use more compound prescriptions of TCM.…”