Positive Health Online

Abstract

SU and COLLEAGUES,  (1)Department of Chinese Medicine, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan City, Taiwan; (2)Department of Anesthesiology, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; (3)Department of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan City, Taiwan; (4)Department of Anesthesiology, E-Da Dachang Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. (5)Department of Anesthesiology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan City, Taiwan set out to evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine and acupuncture combination for pediatric epilepsy treatment.

Background

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine and acupuncture combination for pediatric epilepsy treatment.

Methodology

Databases were searched from their interception until October 2023 to identify randomized controlled trials focusing on the therapeutic efficacy of herbal medicine-acupuncture combination (intervention group) for pediatric epilepsy. The primary outcome was the risk of treatment failure, whereas the secondary outcomes included the risk of post-treatment electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities and adverse events. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on the type of herbal compound formulas. Meta-regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of patient demographics and clinical history on the therapeutic efficacy of herbal medicine-acupuncture combination for pediatric epilepsy. To assess the cumulative evidence, trial sequential analysis (TSA) was performed.

Results

The analysis included 10 trials involving a total of 882 pediatric patients. Meta-analysis revealed that the intervention group had a lower risk of treatment failure than the control group (risk ratio [RR] = 0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.47, P<0.00001, I2 = 0%, 10 trials). Subgroup analyses showed that therapeutic efficacy was consistent among the different herbal compound formulas. Meta-regression analysis revealed that the efficacy of the treatments did not significantly vary with patient age, male sex, and duration of seizure history. TSA suggested that herbal medicine-acupuncture combination exerted a robust and conclusive effect on seizure treatment. Although the combined used of herbal medicine and acupuncture was not associated with a lower risk of post-treatment EEG abnormalities (RR = 0.82, 95%CI:0.6-1.11, P = 0.2, 3 trials), the risk of adverse events was reduced (RR = 0.27, 95%CI:0.18-0.41, P<0.00001, 4 trials).

Conclusion

The meta-analysis suggested that combined use of herbal medicine and acupuncture is a promising and safe clinical approach for pediatric epilepsy treatment. Further large-scale studies are necessary to conclusively determine the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine and acupuncture in pediatric epilepsy treatment. Copyright: © 2024 Su et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.  Conflict of interest statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

Su HW(1), Chen HT(1), Kao CL(2), Hung KC(3), Lin YT(3), Liu PH(4), Lin CM(3),

Chen IW(5). Efficacy and safety of herbal medicine combined with acupuncture in pediatric epilepsy treatment: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLoS One.  ;19(5):e0303201. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303201.  eCollection 2024. May 9 2024.