Background. Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a common gastrointestinal disease afflicting gravidas. It usually results in hospital admission in early pregnancy. Objective. Through a meta-analysis, this study intended to explore acupuncture’s clinical efficacy in treating HG. Materials and Methods. A comprehensive search of PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biological Medical (CBM), Wanfang Database, and China Science and Technology Journal (VIP) for published clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for treating HG was conducted from the date of database creation to 20th January 2021. We also searched grey literature in four databases: Chinese Cochrane Center, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, GreyNet International, and Open Grey from their inception to 20th January 2021. Two authors independently screened the literature, extracted data, and evaluated the quality of the literature with Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0 and Review Manager 5.2 software. Review Manager 5.2 and STATA 12.0 software were applied to analyze data. Heterogeneity analysis was performed by the Cochran Chi-square test and I² statistic. Egger’s tests together with funnel plots were used to identify publication bias. Results. A total of 16 trials covering 1043 gravidas were included. Compared with the conventional treatment, acupuncture had a significantly higher effective rate (OR: 8.11, 95% CI: 5.29∼12.43; ), a higher conversion rate of urine ketone (RR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.15∼1.60; ), an improvement rate of nausea and vomiting (OR: 26.44, 95% CI: 3.54∼197.31; ), and a relatively higher improvement rate of food intake (RR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.01∼1.36; ). Acupuncture also shortened hospitalization time and manifested with a lower pregnancy termination rate and fewer adverse events. Nevertheless, no statistical variation in the improvement of nausea intensity, vomiting episodes, and lassitude symptom, recurrence rate, and serum potassium was observed. Conclusion. Our study suggested that acupuncture was effective in treating HG. However, as the potential inferior quality and underlying publication bias were found in the included studies, there is a need for more superior-quality RCTs to examine their effectiveness and safety. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021232187.

The aim of the present study was to examine the concurrent validity of 2 Chinese versions of the short version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in patients with stroke, i.e., MoCA 5-minute protocol and National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Canadian Stroke Network (NINDS-CSN) 5-minute Protocol. A total of 54 patients and 27 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. In this study, the Neurobehavioural Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE) was used as an external criterion of cognitive impairment. We found that the 5-min protocol did not differ from the MoCA in differentiating patients with cognitive impairments from those without (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, AUC, of 0.948 for the MoCA 5-min protocol v.s. 0.984 for MoCA, P = 0.097). These three assessments demonstrated equal performance in differentiating patients with stroke from controls. The Chinese version of the MoCA 5-min protocol can be used as a valid screening for patients with stroke.

Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of urinary retention (UR). Methods. Randomized controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of UR were identified by searching seven comprehensive databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database) prior to September 2020. Data analysis was performed using RevMan, version 5.3, and Stata software, version 14.0. Results. A total of 12 studies with 979 participants were included. A random-effects model was used to conduct a meta-analysis on the acupuncture group and the control group. The results show that acupuncture can effectively promote spontaneous urination and reduce anxiety in patients with poor urination (relative risk: 1.35; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19–1.53; ). The random-effects model showed significant differences in residual urine volume between the acupuncture group and the control group (MD: −84.79, 95% CI: −135.62 to −33.94; ). Conclusion. Acupuncture is safe and effective in the treatment of UR. However, since the current level of evidence is limited, high-quality, large-sample, multi-center, clinical randomized controlled trials are needed to further confirm our conclusions in the future.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine formulas combined with acupuncture for the treatment of ovulation dysfunction infertility (ODI). Methods: From January 1, 2018 to March 12, 2023, 7 electronic databases, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang Database, and CBM, were systematically searched to identify eligible randomized controlled trial studies. Results: Meta analysis showed that traditional Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture can more effectively improve sex hormone levels compared to Western medicine alone, including follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in older patients (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 3.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.35–3.66; P = .024, I² = 28%), FSH in younger patients (SMD: 0.45; 95% CI: −0.15, 1.05; P = .03, I² = 71%), estradiol (E2) (SMD: 7.50; 95% CI: v0.47, 15.48; P < .00001, I² = 99%), and progesterone (P) (SMD: 2.20; 95% CI: 2.07–2.33; P < .00001, I² = 29%). Compared to Western medicine alone, traditional Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture also had a better effect to increase ovulation rate (risk ratio [RR]: 2.46; 95% CI: 1.72–3.52; P < .00001, I² = 0%), pregnancy rate (RR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.96–3.18; P < .00001, I² = 0%), maximum follicle diameter (MFD) (SMD: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.37–3.16; P < .00001, I² = 91%), and endometrial thickness (SMD: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.31–2.11; P < .00001, I² = 87%). The combination of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture also had better effects on quality of life (RR: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.15–0.23; P < .00001, I² = 0%) and reduced adverse reactions (RR: 0.15; 95% CI: 0.05–0.48; P = .001, I² = 0%), compared to Western medicine alone. Conclusion: This study shows evidence that traditional Chinese medicine formulas combined with acupuncture are an effective and safe treatment approach. However, this conclusion requires further confirmation due to the insufficient quality of the included trials.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of strengthening the body’s resistance to eliminate pathogenic factors in Chinese medicinal formulas combined with chemotherapy (hereafter referred to as combined therapy [CT]) in triple-negative breast cancer. Methods: By searching the 7 electronic databases, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Chinese Academic Journal, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Science and Technology Journal, from the beginning of the establishment to April 2022 to identify eligible randomized controlled trial studies. Results: The meta-analysis showed that compared with chemotherapy, CT can effectively improve the objective remission rate (risk ratio [RR]: 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28, 1.52; P < .00001, I ² = 3%), reduce the recurrence rate (RR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.78; P = .01, I ² = 0%) metastasis rate (RR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.73; P = .0006, I ² = 0%) and the incidence of toxic and side reactions, lower tumor marker levels, regulated T lymphocyte subset changes, and increased average progression-free survival (standardized mean difference: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.41, 4.14; P < .0001, I ² = 97%), and improve the quality of life (RR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.99; P = .0005, I ² = 52%). Conclusion: This study suggests that CT appears to be an effective and safe treatment approach. Although this conclusion requires further confirmation owing to insufficient quality of the included trials.