Effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) for the treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI): A protocol of systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) in the treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: All potential studies will be retrieved from the electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CBM, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from origin of each database up to January 31, 2020. Additionally, we will check other resources, such as Google scholar, dissertations, conference proceedings, and reference lists of included studies. No language and publication date limitations will be considered in the literature resources search. All randomized controlled trials using EA for the treatment of UI in patients with SCI will be included. Two independent investigators will perform study selection, data extraction and study quality assessment. If any conflicts occur, we will invite a third investigator to solve them. Cochrane risk of bias will be used for study quality assessment, and RevMan 5.3 software will be employed for statistical analysis. RESULTS: This study will summarize the most recent evidence to assess the effectiveness and safety of EA for the treatment of UI in patients with SCI. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will provide helpful evidence to determine whether EA is effective and safety for the treatment of UI in patients with SCI or not. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42020165562.

Efficacy of alendronate for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a very tricky orthopedic disorder. If such condition cannot be managed fairly well, it may significantly affect quality of life and even leads to disability among such population. A variety of studies have reported that alendronate is utilized for the treatment of AS. However, their results are still contrary, and no systematic review has addressed on this topic. Thus, this study will systematically assess the efficacy and safety of alendronate for the treatment of patients with AS. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search will be performed from the below electronic databases from their commencement to the January 31, 2020 without language and publication status limitations: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, WANGFANG, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Only randomized controlled trials focusing on the alendronate for the treatment of patients with AS will be considered for inclusion in this study. Two authors will independently select all identified records, extract essential data from all included studies, and appraise study quality for each eligible trial using Cochrane risk of bias. If any differences occur, another experienced author will be invited to solve them by discussion and a consensus decision will be made. We will implement RevMan 5.3 software to analyze the extracted data. RESULTS: This study will summarize high-quality randomized controlled trials to assess the efficacy and safety of alendronate for the treatment of patients with AS through primary outcome of bone densitometry; and secondary outcomes of pain intensity, quality of life, disease activity, functional status, and adverse events. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence to help determine whether alendronate is an effective and safe management for patient with AS or not. STUDY REGISTRATION: INPLASY202040153.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation for cancer pain in children with osteosarcoma: A protocol of systematic review.

BACKGROUND: This systematic review will assess the effectiveness and safety neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for cancer pain (CP) in children with osteosarcoma. METHODS: This systematic review protocol will retrieve the following electronic databases from inception to June 1 in Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, CNKI, and VIP database. Manual head-searching of reference lists and conference proceedings will be performed to further examine the articles of interest. No restrictions will be applied to language and publication status. We will utilize a 3-stage approach to scan titles, abstracts, and full-text studies against all eligibility criteria, and collect data from included trials. Study quality will be evaluated by the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. If possible, we will narratively summarize study results and carry out meta-analysis. RESULTS: This study will recapitulate the present high quality trials to appraise the effectiveness and safety of NMES for CP in children with osteosarcoma. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will present evidence to determine whether NMES is effective and safe for CP in children with osteosarcoma.

Effectiveness of suprascapular nerve block for the treatment of frozen shoulder: A protocol of systematic review.

BACKGROUND: This study will appraise the effectiveness and safety of suprascapular nerve block (SNB) for the treatment of frozen shoulder (FS). METHODS: This study will incorporate studies relevant to SNB on FS. Articles will be searched in the electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, WANGFANG, and CNKI) from inception to the present. In addition, this study will also retrieve conference proceedings and reference lists of included studies. All literature source searches will not be restricted by date and language. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool will be utilized to evaluate the quality of retrieved trials. Data will be collected independently by 2 authors. All collected data will be analyzed by RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: This study will synthesize the most recent published high quality trials on assessing the effectiveness and safety of SNB in treating FS. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will provide a genuine understanding and helpful evidence to determine whether SNB is effective or not in treating FS. STUDY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202050084.

Effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave for post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

BACKGROUND: Post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome (PSSHS) is one of the most common sequelae in patients with stroke. Previous studies have reported that extracorporeal shock wave (EPSW) has been used to treat this condition effectively. However, its conclusions are still inconsistent. Therefore, this study will provide evidence to systematically assess the effectiveness and safety of EPSW for the treatment of PSSHS. METHODS: We will comprehensively search relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness and safety of EPSW for the treatment of PSSHS in the following databases from their start to February 1, 2020 without language and publication date limitations: Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. For trials that meet all inclusion criteria, 2 researchers will independently extract the data from them and appraise study quality by Cochrane risk of bias. Any differences will be solved by discussion with the help of another researcher. All data will be performed and analyzed using RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: We will summarize up-to-date high quality RCTs to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of EPSW for the treatment of PSSHS. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide a comprehensive evidence summary to determine whether EPSW is effective and safety for the treatment of PSSHS or not. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42020175630.

Efficacy of intrathecal baclofen bolus on neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study will explore the efficacy and safety of intrathecal baclofen bolus (IBB) on neuropathic pain (NPP) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: All potential literatures of IBB on NPP in patients with SCI will be searched from the following electronic databases from inauguration to the January 31, 2020: PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Scientific Journal Database Information, WANGFANG, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. In addition, we will search other sources, such as dissertations and reference lists of included trials. There are no restrictions of language and publication status in searching all literature sources. The quality of each eligible trial will be assessed using Cochrane risk of bias tool, and publication bias will be checked using a funnel plot and Egger test. Statistical analysis will be conducted using RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: This study will scrutinize the efficacy and safety of IBB on NPP in patients with SCI through pain intensity of NPP, spasticity, walking ability, health-related quality of life, duration of stay at hospital (days), incidence of adverse event, and mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study will present helpful evidence to judge whether IBB is effective on NPP in patients with SCI or not. STUDY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202040192.

Efficacy of neural stem cell transplantation for the treatment of patients with spinal cord injury: A protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of neural stem cell transplantation (NSCT) for the treatment of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: All potential randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on NSCT in the treatment of patients with SCI will be searched from the following electronic databases: Cochrane Library, MEDILINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, CBM, WANGFANG, and CNKI. We will search all electronic databases from their initiation to the January 31, 2020 in spite of language and publication date. Two contributors will independently select studies from all searched literatures, extract data from included trials, and evaluate study quality for all eligible RCTs using Cochrane risk of bias tool, respectively. Any confusion will be resolved by consulting contributor and a consensus will be reached. We will utilize RevMan 5.3 software to pool the data and to conduct the data analysis. RESULTS: This study will summarize the most recent RCTs to investigate the efficacy and safety of NSCT in the treatment of patients with SCI. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence to assess the efficacy and safety of NSCT in the treatment of patients with SCI at evidence-based medicine level. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42020173792.