Abstract

Introduction Fire needle therapy has been reported as an effective treatment for vitiligo. However, current clinical evidence has not been systematically evaluated. The aim of this study was to determine whether fire needle therapy is effective and safe for treating vitiligo. Methods Seven databases were searched until October 2019 for randomized controlled trials on fire needle therapy, with and without conventional treatments, versus any type of conventional therapy for treating vitiligo. The RevMan 5.3.5 software was used to perform meta-analysis of the included studies. Results Forty-seven trials comprising 3618 patients were included. Fire needle combined with conventional vitiligo treatments had a higher efficacy (risk ratio (RR): 1.55, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.46–1.65, P < 0.00001 and RR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.24–1.61, P < 0.00001, respectively) and a greater effect on restoring the color of the area of the skin lesion (mean difference (MD): 3.40, 95% CI: 2.11–4.69, P < 0.00001), increasing the pigment point of vitiligo (MD: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.54–1.13, P < 0.00001) and improving the cytokine level (MD: 8.10, 95% CI: 6.94–9.27, P < 0.00001) and effectual time (MD: −4.76, 95% CI: −7.33 to −2.19, P=0.0003) than traditional methods. Limb lesions (RR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.31–1.95, P < 0.00001) were more effectively treated when the treatments included fire needles, whereas the therapeutic effect of fire needles on either the head and neck (RR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.78–1.64, P=0.52) or torso lesions (RR: 1.22, 95% CI: 0.82–1.81, P=0.33) was not significantly different compared to that without fire needles. No statistically significant differences in adverse effects (RR: 1.15, 95% CI: 0.89–1.49, P=0.28) and recurrence rates (RR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.17–4.92, P=0.91) during the follow-up period were observed between treatment with and without fire needles. Conclusions Fire needle therapy combined with other conventional treatments is useful in treating vitiligo. Further studies with larger sample sizes should be performed to make a conclusive judgment. This trial is registered with CRD42018094918.

Highlights

  • Fire needle therapy has been reported as an effective treatment for vitiligo

  • In a comparison of the restored color on skin lesions using random-effects modeling (Supplementary file 3), we found that treatment including fire needles had a significantly greater effect in restoring the color of the skin than traditional methods without fire needles (MD: 3.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.11–4.69, P < 0.00001)

  • In a comparison of the increased pigment point of these skin lesions using random-effects modeling (Supplementary file 4), we found that treatment including fire needles had a significantly greater effect in increasing the pigment point of the skin than traditional methods without fire needles (MD: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.54–1.13, P < 0.00001)

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Vitiligo is a frequently acquired depigmentation disease of localized or generalized skin and mucosa. E primary outcome measured in this study was the total effectiveness rate for the duration of treatment, defined as the rate of restoration of the vitiligo lesions to normal color. Two investigators (R.Y. and Z.Y.) independently screened the studies according to the inclusion criteria and extracted the information based on self-designed data-extraction templates, which included the first author, study characteristics (i.e., year, duration, setting, and design), participant characteristics (i.e., mean age, sample size, TCM syndrome, and interventions), and measured outcomes. E Cochrane Handbook [9] was used to evaluate the methodological quality of each included study in terms of the following characteristics: random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding of participants and personnel, blinding of the outcome assessment, incomplete outcome data, selective reporting, and other biases. Clinical heterogeneity was assessed by reviewing the differences in the distribution of participants’ characteristics between trials (i.e., age, sex, and disease duration)

Results
Meta-Analysis of Primary Outcomes
Meta-Analysis of the Secondary Outcomes
Conclusions
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call