Bloodletting at EX-HN6 as an adjunctive therapy to eye drops for stye: A meta-analysis

This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of bloodletting (BL) at ear-apex (EX-HN6) as an adjunctive therapy to eye drops for stye.

This study systematically searched electronic databases from inception to March 1, 2020 in PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Full-text Database, and WanFang Database. All potential randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effectiveness and safety of BL at EX-HN6 as an adjunctive therapy to eye drops for stye were included in this study. Study quality of all included studies was assessed by Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. RevMan 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis and meta-analysis performance.

A total of 11 RCTs, involving 1718 subjects, were included in this study. Results showed that BL at EX-HN6 as an adjunctive therapy to eye drops was superior to the eye drops alone in enhancing total effectiveness rate (risk ratio [RR] 1.21, 95% confidence intervals [CIs] [1.11, 1.32], I = 79%), and total cure rate (RR 1.28, 95% CIs [1.14, 1.43], I = 69%). After removing two studies, results of subgroup analysis still showed significant improvements in total effectiveness rate (RR 1.13, 95% CIs [1.08, 1.18], I = 0%), and total cure rate (RR 1.16, 95% CIs [1.08, 1.24], I = 0%). No data of adverse reactions was reported in primary trials, thus, this study did not analyze adverse reactions of BL at EX-HN6 as an adjunctive therapy to eye drops for stye.

BL at EX-HN6 as an adjunctive therapy to eye drops may benefit stye. However, high-quality RCTs addressing on this issue is still needed to warrant the findings of this study.