Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion for defecation dysfunction after sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Defecation dysfunction (DD) is one of the most common complications following sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer. And there is no effective treatment of DD after sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer. Although some studies suggested that acupuncture and moxibustion (AM) is effective and safe for DD after sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer, lacking strong evidence, for instance, the relevant systematic review, meta-analysis and randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a large, multicentre sample, makes the effects and safety remain uncertain. The present protocol is described for a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effectiveness and safety of AM for DD after sphincter-preserving surgery for rectal cancer.

Methods and

SUBMITTER: Xu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7223156 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature