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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Med.

Sec. Family Medicine and Primary Care

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1592220

A Meta Analysis of the Acupoint Catgut Embedding in the Treatment of Functional Constipation

Provisionally accepted
Yufei  ZhaoYufei Zhao1Zhiwei  WangZhiwei Wang1Shangke  KuangShangke Kuang1Shuxin  ZhangShuxin Zhang2*
  • 1Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupoint embedding for FC by meta-analysis, in order to provide evidence-based medical evidence for clinical practice. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science and The Cochrane Library for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on ACE for FC published from inception to November 2024. The included studies were assessed for quality using the modified Jadad scale, and statistical analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4.1 and Stata BE 17. Results: A total of 23 studies involving 1,794 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed that the total effective rate of ACE was significantly higher compared with oral Western medicine (odds ratio [OR]=2.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.91-3.83, P<0.00001), acupuncture (OR=2.90, 95% CI: 1.68-5.01, P=0.0001) and placebo groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between ACE and oral Chinese medicine (OR=2.34, 95% CI: 0.79-6.89, P=0.12). The incidence of adverse reactions in the ACE group was low, presenting mainly as mild local discomfort such as soreness, bruising and pain, which were self-limiting. Conclusion: Acupoint catgut embedding demonstrates superior clinical efficacy compared with Western medicine, acupuncture and placebo in treating FC, with a low incidence of adverse effects. However, due to the limitations of the included studies, high-quality, large-sample RCTs are still needed to verify the long-term efficacy and safety of ACE.

Keywords: Acupoint catgut embedding, Functional constipation, Meta-analysis, Randomised controlled trial, Evidence-Based Medicine

Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Wang, Kuang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Shuxin Zhang, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China

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