Adjunctive Chinese herbal medicine versus acupuncture post-PCI: comparative effectiveness and safety - protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Coronary artery disease (CAD) represents a significant global health challenge. Despite advancements like percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), patients remain at risk for recurrent cardiovascular events and persistent symptoms such as angina. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and acupuncture are commonly used adjunctive therapies, particularly in East Asia, but robust evidence synthesising their effects when combined with standard post-PCI care is needed. Therefore, this systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adding CHM or acupuncture to standard care compared with standard care alone (with or without placebo/sham) in adult patients following PCI.

Methods and analysis

We will include parallel-group randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evalua

SUBMITTER: Dai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12506179 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature