Acupuncture and related therapies for treating irritable bowel syndrome: overview of systematic reviews and network meta-analysis.
Irene X Y WuCharlene Hoi-Lam WongRobin S T HoWilliam K W CheungAlexander Charles FordJustin C Y WuArthur D P MakHolger CramerVincent C H ChungPublished in: Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology (2019)
The risk of bias and NMA inconsistency among included trials limited the trustworthiness of the conclusion. Patients who did not respond well to first-line conventional therapies or antidepressants may consider acupuncture as an alternative. Future trials should investigate the potential of (1) acupuncture as an add-on to antidepressants and (2) the combined effect of Chinese herbs and acupuncture, which is the norm of routine Chinese medicine practice.