Volume 23, Issue 4, August 2015, Pages 577–590
Chuanxiong chadiao powder, a famous Chinese herbal prescription, for headache: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Highlights
- •
- A systematic review of trials on the effects of CXCP for headache.
- •
- A total of 3680 participants were included in 37 eligible studies.
- •
- The evidence is supported but limited for CXCP clinical use in treating headache.
- •
- CXCP seem to be safe and well tolerable in patients with headache.
Abstract
Background
Headache
have been recognized as major causes of public ill-health, whereas
there currently are the limitations of conventional therapies available.
Chuanxiong Chadiao Powder (CXCP) is a well-known classic TCM herbal
prescription with respect to treating headache for more than 1000 years.
The objective of this study is to systematically assess the clinical
efficacy and safety of CXCP for headache.
Methods
A
systematic literature search in four databases, up to May of 2014, was
performed to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which
compared CXCP monotherapy or adjunct therapy with western conventional
medicine (WCM) or placebo for headache. The primary outcome measures
were headache frequency, headache duration, pain intensity scales, globe
assessment, patients self report outcomes, and quality of life. The
second outcome measures were the total clinical effective rate and
adverse events. The methodological quality of RCTs was assessed
independently based on the 7 criteria recommended by the Cochrane Back
Review Group.
Results
A total
of 3680 participants were included in 37 eligible studies. The
methodological quality was generally poor and there was only one high
quality trial. Meta-analyses of the studies found that significant
effects of CXCP for improving headache frequency and headache duration
and the total clinical effective rate compared with WCM or placebo
control in treating headache (P < 0.01). Adverse event monitoring was reported in 22 studies (59%), while the other 15 studies (41%) did not mentioned.
Conclusions
The
evidence from present study is supported but limited for CXCP clinical
use in the management of headache because of methodological flaws.
Larger sample-sizes and rigorously designed RCTs are required in the
future.
Keywords
- Headache;
- Rhizoma ligustici chuanxiong;
- Chinese herbal medicine;
- Systematic review;
- Meta-analysis
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
