Moxibustion at Baihui combined with acupuncture for cervical vertigo: a Meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of moxibustion at Baihui (CV20) combined with acupuncture in treatment of cervical vertigo. From the databases, such as CNKI, VIP, WanFang, CBM, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase, the studies of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on moxibustion at CV20 combined with acupuncture for cervical vertigo were searched from inception to September 15th, 2021. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was utilized to evaluate the quality of the included literature. Using RevMan5.3, Stata12.0 and TSA0.9.5.0 10 Beta software, the Meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) were performed. Seventeen RCTs with 1 232 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that in the trial group (moxibustion at CV20 combined with acupuncture), the total effective rate (RR=1.17, 95%CI［1.12, 1.22］, P<0.000 1), the curative and remarkably-effective rate (RR＝1.28，95%CI［1.20，1.36］，P<0.000 1) and the score of cervical vertigo (WMD=2.88, 95%CI［1.87, 3.89］, P<0.000 1) were all better when compared with the control group (simple acupuncture or electroacupuncture group). The results of trial sequential analysis indicated that for the cumulative Z-score of each RCT, the Z-curve crossed the conventional test boundary and TSA boundary, which further confirmed the clinical efficacy of moxibustion at CV20 combined with acupuncture on cervical vertigo. The clinical efficacy of moxibustion at CV20 combined with acupuncture is determined in treatment of cervical vertigo.