Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture therapy in the treatment of chronic urticaria.
Methods: Randomized controlled trials of acupuncture treatment of chronic urticaria published from January of 2008 to October of 2018 were searched from databases of CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, CBM, PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library by using key words "urticaria or urticarias" "acupuncture therapy" "acupuncture treatment" and "randomized controlled trial (RCT)". The retrieved RCT papers were input into EndNote X8 document management software for screening the qualified ones, followed by evaluating the quality of the screened papers. The data extraction table was designed, and the information and data needed for the research were accurately extracted. Finally, Review Manager 5.3 software was used to analyze the included literature.
Results: A total of 1 095 articles were retrieved, and 16 RCTs were included finally. The Meta-analysis showed that the total therapeutic efficacy was OR＝3.85, 95% CI [2.61, 5.69], P<0.000 01. The diamonds for comparison between the acupuncture and control (medication) groups in the "Feng Tuan"(urticaria) number, itching, onset duration, swelling degree and scratch test scores were on the right side of the invalid line of forest maps. The recurrence rate (reported in 4 papers) was lower in the acupuncture group than in the control group (OR＝0.28, 95% CI being [0.14, 0.55], P＝0.000 3).
Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment is significantly better than antihistamine administration alone in the treatment of chronic urticaria, with lower recurrence rate. High-quality clinical studies with rigorous design and large sample sizes are needed for providing more reliable evidence.
Keywords: Acupuncture therapy; Chronic urticaria; Metaanalysis; Randomized controlled trial.