Baguan Therapy Is an Alternative in Treating Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Systematic Review Based on Existing Randomized...

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence available on the effects of Baguan therapy for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.

The following databases were searched from their inception to August 2018: PubMed, Web of Science, AMED, Cochrane Library, Google, EMBASE, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases, Wanfang Data, CiNii, KoreaMed, and the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which assessed the effects of Baguan therapy for AS, were included in our review. The methodological quality of eligible studies was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. The RevMan 5.3 software was used for quantitative analysis of RCTs. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistics.

Four studies were included in our review. The aggregated results indicated that Baguan therapy improved the treatment effect (risk ratio 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.34, p < 0.01) as well as physical function (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index) (mean difference -1.56, 95% CI -2.01 to -1.12, p < 0.01) and reduced disease activity (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index) (mean difference -0.71, 95% CI -1.09 to -0.33, p < 0.01) in patients with AS.

Due to the low quality of included trials, it is difficulty to draw the firm conclusion that Baguan therapy may have beneficial effects on AS.