Warm needle acupuncture for osteoarthritis: A systematic review protocol

Warm needle acupuncture (WA) is widely used the treatment in the East Asian countries. However, there is no critically appraised evidence of the potential benefits and harms. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of WA for osteoarthritis (OA). Methods and analysis Electronic databases will be searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and AMED, 6 Korean medical databases (Korea Med, the Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, OASIS, DBPIA, the Research Information Service System and the Korean Studies Information Service System), 3 Chinese databases (CNKI, VIP and Wanfang) and a Japanese database (CiNii Articles) will be searched from their inception. We will be searched from their inception. Selection of the studies and data extraction and validation will be performed independently by two reviewers. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs using WA for any type of OA will be considered. The studies will independently undertake study selection, extraction of data and assessment of study quality by two authors. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias standards. All data synthesis and subgroup analyses will be conducted using Review Manager Software. Dissemination Findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journals. This systematic review may inform the treatment of OA patients in clinical practice