Efficacy of combining traditional Chinese medicine fumigation with Western medicine for diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of supplementing Western medicine with Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) fumigation in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.MethodsThe China Biomedical Literature, Chinese full-text periodical, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, PubMed, EMbase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant randomized controlled trials published from inception through May 2015. The methodological quality of eligible studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk Bias Assessment tool, and summarized effects were calculated using Reviewer Manager 5.1 software. Subgroup analysis was conducted based on the duration of intervention.ResultsThe initial search identified 312 relevant studies, of which 40 randomized controlled trials involving 3497 patients were eligible for analysis. The results indicated that TCM fumigation significantly improved the curative effects [risk ratio (RR) = 1.34, 95% CI (confidence interval): 1.29–1.39], common peroneal motor nerve conduction velocity [standard mean difference (SMD) = 2.93, 95% CI: 2.26–3.61], common peroneal sensory nerve conduction velocity (SMD = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.46–3.01), and plasma viscosity (SMD = −1.02, 95% CI: −1.35–0.69) compared to Western medicine alone (all p < 0.01). A subgroup analysis indicated that the curative effects were significant after 15 days (RR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.21–1.42), 30 days (RR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.26–1.40), and 60 days (RR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.32–1.71) of combined treatment (all p < 0.01).ConclusionTCM fumigation significantly improves the clinical outcomes of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, though further confirmatory studies are needed.