Should eighteen incompatibilities be used? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the analgesic effect of pinellia and aconitum used externally for cancer pain
IF 1.9 4区 医学Q3 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Can Cao , Xiaoqing Liu , Meijing Wu , Xiangnan Xu , Wenyong Liao , Xiao Dong , Yi Tian , Ying Zhang , Gansheng Zhong
{"title":"Should eighteen incompatibilities be used? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the analgesic effect of pinellia and aconitum used externally for cancer pain","authors":"Can Cao , Xiaoqing Liu , Meijing Wu , Xiangnan Xu , Wenyong Liao , Xiao Dong , Yi Tian , Ying Zhang , Gansheng Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.eujim.2024.102407","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Many clinical formulas containing the couplet Chinese medicines pinellia and aconitum (CMPA) have been recognized and demonstrated analgesic efficacy. However, CMPA belongs to the \"eighteen incompatibilities\" of traditional Chinese medicine theory, which is considered prohibited and dangerous by some medical practitioners. Whether CMPA can truly be used safely and without concern in the clinic urgently requires a more cohesive evaluation of the evidence. This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of CMPA for external use in the treatment of cancer pain.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and Sinomed databases to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CMPA with conventional medicines for the treatment of cancer pain from their inception to December 31, 2023. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software. The modified Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence profile was constructed to illustrate the certainty of evidence.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 1083 patients were enrolled in 14 RCTs. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the numerical rating scale (NRS) pain score [MD=-0.84, 95 % CI (-1.21, -0.47), <em>P</em> < 0.00001, moderate certainty], duration of continuous analgesia [MD=1.45 h, 95 % CI (1.13, 1.77), <em>P</em> < 0.00001, low certainty], and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) quality of life score [MD=7.25, 95 % CI (5.01, 9.48), <em>P</em> < 0.00001, low certainty] of patients after external administration of CMPA-containing prescriptions in combination with conventional medicine therapy were better than those with the conventional medicine therapy. The incidence of total adverse reactions [RR=0.69, 95 % CI (0.58, 0.83), <em>P</em> < 0.0001, moderate certainty] and constipation [RR=0.43, 95 % CI (0.19, 0.97), <em>P</em> = 0.04, moderate certainty] of patients after external administration of CMPA-containing prescriptions in combination with conventional medicine therapy were lower than those with the conventional medicine therapy. No statistically significant differences were found regarding the effectiveness or safety of CMPA-containing prescriptions compared to conventional medicine therapy (low or very low certainty evidence).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The external use of CMPA-containing prescriptions, when combined with conventional medicine therapy, is safer and more effective for cancer pain than conventional medicine therapy. However, higher-level evidence is still warranted.</div></div><div><h3>Review registration</h3><div>PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023400792.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11932,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Integrative Medicine","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 102407"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Integrative Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876382024000763","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction
Many clinical formulas containing the couplet Chinese medicines pinellia and aconitum (CMPA) have been recognized and demonstrated analgesic efficacy. However, CMPA belongs to the "eighteen incompatibilities" of traditional Chinese medicine theory, which is considered prohibited and dangerous by some medical practitioners. Whether CMPA can truly be used safely and without concern in the clinic urgently requires a more cohesive evaluation of the evidence. This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of CMPA for external use in the treatment of cancer pain.
Methods
We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and Sinomed databases to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CMPA with conventional medicines for the treatment of cancer pain from their inception to December 31, 2023. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software. The modified Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence profile was constructed to illustrate the certainty of evidence.
Results
A total of 1083 patients were enrolled in 14 RCTs. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the numerical rating scale (NRS) pain score [MD=-0.84, 95 % CI (-1.21, -0.47), P < 0.00001, moderate certainty], duration of continuous analgesia [MD=1.45 h, 95 % CI (1.13, 1.77), P < 0.00001, low certainty], and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) quality of life score [MD=7.25, 95 % CI (5.01, 9.48), P < 0.00001, low certainty] of patients after external administration of CMPA-containing prescriptions in combination with conventional medicine therapy were better than those with the conventional medicine therapy. The incidence of total adverse reactions [RR=0.69, 95 % CI (0.58, 0.83), P < 0.0001, moderate certainty] and constipation [RR=0.43, 95 % CI (0.19, 0.97), P = 0.04, moderate certainty] of patients after external administration of CMPA-containing prescriptions in combination with conventional medicine therapy were lower than those with the conventional medicine therapy. No statistically significant differences were found regarding the effectiveness or safety of CMPA-containing prescriptions compared to conventional medicine therapy (low or very low certainty evidence).
Conclusion
The external use of CMPA-containing prescriptions, when combined with conventional medicine therapy, is safer and more effective for cancer pain than conventional medicine therapy. However, higher-level evidence is still warranted.
期刊介绍:
The European Journal of Integrative Medicine (EuJIM) considers manuscripts from a wide range of complementary and integrative health care disciplines, with a particular focus on whole systems approaches, public health, self management and traditional medical systems. The journal strives to connect conventional medicine and evidence based complementary medicine. We encourage submissions reporting research with relevance for integrative clinical practice and interprofessional education.
EuJIM aims to be of interest to both conventional and integrative audiences, including healthcare practitioners, researchers, health care organisations, educationalists, and all those who seek objective and critical information on integrative medicine. To achieve this aim EuJIM provides an innovative international and interdisciplinary platform linking researchers and clinicians.
The journal focuses primarily on original research articles including systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, other clinical studies, qualitative, observational and epidemiological studies. In addition we welcome short reviews, opinion articles and contributions relating to health services and policy, health economics and psychology.