Title : Pharmacoacupuncture therapy for dizziness in traditional korean medicine: A systematic review
Abstract:
Background and Aims: This systematic review aimed at briefly exploring how effective pharmacoacupuncture therapy for dizziness is.
Methods: We searched publications in Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, KoreaMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Cinii, DBpia, KSI, Kiss, KMbase, NDSL and RISS. We included randomized controlled trials and well-designed non-randomized controlled trials that compared the effects of only pharmacoacupuncture or pharmacoacupuncture and usual therapies with any controls for dizziness.
Results: The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Three studies have been included with eligibility criteria. Risk of bias assessments showed mostly “unclear” because the included study reported the results poorly. This review found the evidence that pharmacoacupuncture therapy was effective as add-on therapy to acupoint therapy, physiotherapy and had additional benefits in increasing of CER for cervical vertigo. Also, it was recommended that pharmacoacupuncture therapy was effective as add-on therapy to western medicine and had additional benefits in increasing of CER for vasovagal syncope.
Conclusions: Pharmacoacupuncture therapy had additional benefits as add-on therapy for cervical vertigo and vasovagal syncope. However, further studies are required to overcome the limitations of lack of study qualities.
Audience Take Away:
- This study will provide how effective and safe pharmacoacupuncture therapy is for treating dizziness
- The study has cited papers on the use of pharmacoacupuncture therapy for cervical vertigo and vasovagal syncope, but it is expected that it can be safely applied to various other conditions in the future
- Furthermore, it is believed that the scope of treatment for dizziness can be expanded through high- quality clinical trials. A meta-analysis could not be conducted due to a limited selection of papers, but it is anticipated that evidence-based medical conclusions can be drawn as more clinical trials are conducted in the future
