Different acupotomy for stenosing tenosynovitis: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Stenosing tenosynovitis (STS) is a chronic inflammatory condition causing pain and reduced mobility.
• Acupotomy offers a simple and effective treatment for STS with minimal side effects.
• A lack of comparative studies exists for different acupotomy techniques in treating STS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To rank the effectiveness of four common needle knife therapies for STS.
• To provide evidence-based guidance for selecting optimal acupotomy treatments for STS.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted across multiple databases (CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Sinomed, PubMed, Cochrane Library).
• Randomized controlled trials of v-knife, oblique knife, crochet knife, and flat knife for STS were included.
• Network meta-analysis was performed using Revman5.3, gemtc 0.14.3, and stata14.2, with bias risk assessed using the Cochrane tool.

Main Results:

• The study systematically compared the clinical effectiveness of four distinct acupotomy methods.
• Data analysis aimed to establish a hierarchy of treatment efficacy for stenosing tenosynovitis.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide crucial evidence for clinicians to choose the most effective needle knife therapy for STS.
• This research supports informed decision-making in the treatment of stenosing tenosynovitis.