Acupuncture therapies on radiotherapy-induced radiation enteritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: To assess the efficacy of various acupuncture therapies for treating radiotherapy-induced radiation enteritis (RE). Materials and Methods: Relevant studies on RE treatment through acupuncture and moxibustion were collected from medical databases. These studies were meticulously screened based on stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria. Their methodological quality was evaluated, and data were meta-analysed using Revman 5.3 software. Results: Six studies were included in this analysis. The fixed effect (FE) model revealed a statistically significant difference in the distribution of apparent efficacy between the experimental and control groups [OR = -0.18, 95% CI (-0.25, -0.11), P < 0.00001], as well as in the distribution of cure rates [OR = 0.35, 95% CI (0.20, 0.62), P = 0.0003]. The FE model also showed a significant difference in Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) scores [OR = -6.94, 95% CI (-10.39, -3.48), P < 0.0001]. Subgroup analysis for age and gender revealed no significant differences. Conclusion: This research model's robustness suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion, when used in combination, are more effective in treating patients with RE than control treatments. This effectiveness is evident in terms of significant effect proportion, cure rates, and KPS scores. These conclusions are consistent across different genders and ages.