Table 2.
The basic characteristics of the included studies.
| Author year | Sample size | Treatment group 1 | Treatment group 2 | Anesthetic mode | Operation method | Outcome | Adverse reactions and complications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention age (year)/course (year) | Intervention age (year)/course (year) | ||||||
| Xiong and Xie [9] | 63 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 41.1 ± 13.5/9.7 ± 4.1 | Analgesic 43.1 ± 13.7/10.3 ± 4.6 | NA | NA | 1, 2 | NA |
| Chen and Deng [10] | 40 | Auricular plaster 45.5 ± 23.5/NA | Regular treatment 45.0 ± 22.0/NA | NA | NA | 2 | NA |
| Fang et al. [11] | 66 | Auricular plaster 38.7 ± 10.5/NA | Regular treatment 40.8 ± 11.8/NA | NA | NA | 3 | Treatment group 1: none; treatment group 2: 1 case of perianal skin pruritus and wound bleeding, 1 case of asthma, and 1 case of abnormal liver function and urinary tract infection |
| Zhu et al. [12] | 120 | Auricular plaster 37.4/NA | Regular treatment 37.8/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | MM | 1 | NA |
| Huang et al. [13] | 120 | Auricular plaster 38/NA | Regular treatment 38/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | MM | 1, 2 | NA |
| Di et al. [14] | 60 | Auricular plaster 42.93 ± 10.94/NA | Regular treatment 45.69 ± 9.07/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | PPH | 2 | Treatment group 1: 1 case of dizziness and 2 cases of dry mouth, 3 cases of dizziness; treatment group 2: 2 cases of nausea, 1 case of vomiting, and 3 cases of dry mouth |
| Gao and Liu [15] | 90 | Auricular plaster 44.58 ± 10.98/NA | Analgesic 42.17 ± 11.5/NA | NA | MM | 3 | NA |
| Liu and Zheng [16] | 601 | Auricular plaster NA/NA | Regular treatment NA/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 1 | NA |
| Di et al. [17] | 120 | Auricular plaster 45.15 ± 2.53/NA | Analgesic 47.08 ± 3.09/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | PPH | 1 | Treatment group 1: none; treatment group 2: 2 cases of dizziness, 3 cases of nausea, 1 case of vomiting, 1 case of drowsiness, and 1 case of dry mouth |
| Yan [18] | 120 | Auricular plaster NA/NA | Regular treatment NA/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 2 | NA |
| Yang et al. [19] | 100 | Auricular plaster combined with acupoint application 41.5 ± 3.5/15.1 ± 5.6 | Regular treatment 40.2 ± 2.6/14.9 ± 6.8 | NA | NA | 1, 2 | NA |
| Hu [20] | 120 | Auricular plaster 34/NA | Regular treatment 33/NA | NA | NA | 1 | NA |
| Liu et al. [21] | 140 | Auricular plaster 47.5 ± 5.6/NA | Regular treatment 48.8 ± 6.4/NA | NA | NA | 2 | NA |
| Beilei et al. [22] | 66 | Auricular plaster 46.52 ± 3.71/4.03 ± 2.87 | Analgesic 45.92 ± 3.63/4.06 ± 2.91 | NA | NA | 1, 2, 3 | NA |
| Chen et al. [23] | 224 | Auricular plaster 50.1 ± 8.2/NA | Regular treatment 51.6 ± 9.0/NA | NA | MM | 3 | NA |
| Gan [24] | 271 | Auricular plaster NA/NA | Regular treatment NA/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | MM | 1 | NA |
| Tang and Hu [25] | 40 | Auricular plaster 31/NA | Analgesic 31/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | MM | 1 | NA |
| Hong et al. [26] | 100 | Auricular plaster 60/NA | Analgesic 58/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 1, 3 | NA |
| Chai and Feng [27] | 140 | Auricular plaster 41.87/NA | Analgesic 42.13/NA | NA | NA | 1 | NA |
| Yang [28] | 60 | Auricular plaster 38.06 ± 3.52/NA | Regular treatment 37.52 ± 3.64/NA | NA | NA | 2 | Treatment group 1: none; treatment group 2: 2 cases of dizziness, 1 case of chest tightness, and 1 case of urticaria |
| Zhang [29] | 60 | Auricular plaster 34.55 ± 3.63/10.48 ± 1.35 | Regular treatment 39.22 ± 1.56/11.12 ± 1.82 | NA | NA | 3 | None |
| Li [30] | 106 | Auricular plaster 42.9 ± 7.0/NA | Analgesic 42.7 ± 7.1/NA | NA | NA | 1 | NA |
| Pan [31] | 80 | Auricular plaster 48.50 ± 5.75/3.68 ± 0.55 | Analgesic 47.50 ± 5.63/3.50 ± 0.68 | NA | NA | 2 | Treatment group 1: 2 cases with irregular defecation and 1 case with edema; treatment group 2: 4 cases of urinary retention, 1 case of bleeding, 2 cases of irregular defecation, and 3 cases of edema |
| Zheng and Yv [32] | 120 | Auricular plaster combined with acupoint application 37.2 ± 7.2/NA | Analgesic 35.3 ± 8.5/NA | NA | NA | 3 | Treatment group 1: none; treatment group 2: 7 cases with mild stomach pain and other stomach upset symptoms |
| Wang and Chen [33] | 80 | Acupoint application 32.15 ± 10.12/NA | Analgesic 33.85 ± 9.96/NA | NA | MM | 2 | Treatment group 1: none; treatment group 2: postoperative urinary retention in 3 cases, local trauma tissue edema in 2 cases; postoperative stomachache was relieved spontaneously in 1 case |
| Huang et al. [34] | 60 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 41.2 ± 10.05/NA | Regular treatment 42.3 ± 11.7/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 2 | NA |
| Li et al. [35] | 120 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 41.2 ± 10.5/10.1 ± 0.5 | Regular treatment 42.3 ± 11.7/9.2 ± 0.4 | Caudal anesthesia | MM | 3 | NA |
| Yang et al. [36] | 120 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 42.1 ± 11.5/NA | Analgesic 43.6 ± 12.1/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 2 | Treatment group 1: 2 cases of urinary retention, 7 cases of edema, and 1 case of nausea; treatment group 2: 8 cases of urinary retention, 17 cases of edema, 6 cases of nausea, 4 cases of vomiting, and 5 cases of vertigo |
| Sheng et al. [37] | 60 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 43 ± 16/NA | Regular treatment 44 ± 15/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | MM | 2 | Treatment group 1: 3 cases of irregular defecation and 2 cases of anal edema; treatment group 2: 10 cases of irregular defecation and 8 cases of anal edema |
| Yue and Li [38] | 200 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 46.5/NA | Analgesic 47.3/NA | NA | MM | 1 | NA |
| Zhang [39] | 70 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 35 ± 10/2.9 ± 1.4 | Analgesic 34 ± 12/13.1 ± 1.2 | NA | NA | 2 | NA |
| Liang et al. [40] | 60 | Acupoint application | Regular treatment | NA | MM | 2 | NA |
| Li [41] | 30 | Acupoint application | Regular treatment | NA | NA | 3 | NA |
| Meng et al. [42] | 160 | Acupoint application | Regular treatment | NA | NA | 1, 2, 3 | NA |
| Zhou et al. [43] | 90 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 36 ± 4/7.8 ± 2.1 | Analgesic 35 ± 7/7.3 ± 2.00 | CSEA | MM | 2 | Treatment group 1: 1 case of nausea and vomiting, 1 case of localized skin discomfort; treatment group 2: 8 cases of dizziness and headache, 13 cases of nausea and vomiting, 6 cases of being flustered, and 4 cases of local skin discomfort |
| Li et al. [44] | 90 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 44.9 ± 5.7/9.3 ± 0.2 | Analgesic 46.4 ± 4.9/10.5 ± 0.4 | Local anesthesia | MM | 3 | Treatment group 1: 7 cases had difficulty urinating and 4 cases had edema; treatment group 2: 15 cases had difficulty urinating and 9 cases had edema |
| Du [45] | 60 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 41.3 ± 12.08/4.88 ± 3.12 | Analgesic 42.88 ± 11.93/5.79 ± 2.64 | Local anesthesia | MM | 2 | Treatment group 1: none; treatment group 2: 3 cases of nausea and vomiting |
| Wang [46] | 68 | Auricular plaster combined with acupoint application 45.58 ± 11.98/NA | Regular treatment 43.17 ± 12.5/NA | Lumbar anesthesia | MM | 2 | Treatment group 1: 2 cases of nausea, 1 case of vomiting; treatment group 2: 5 cases of nausea, 3 cases of vomiting, 1 case of stomatitis, 1 case of allergic dermatitis |
| Liang and Wen [47] | 96 | Acupoint application 60.10 ± 8.23/NA | Regular treatment 58.23 ± 8.97/NA | Intravertebral canal anesthesia | MM | 1 | NA |
| Wang et al. [48] | 90 | Acupoint application 48.8 ± 12.6/NA | Regular treatment 43.2 ± 14.0/NA | NA | NA | 1 | NA |
| Xie and Huang [49] | 60 | Acupoint application 47.1 ± 4.6/NA | Regular treatment 46.2 ± 4.3/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 2 | NA |
| Huang et al. [50] | 60 | Auricular plaster 42.1 ± 8.52/NA | Regular treatment 41.3 ± 10.37/NA | Local anesthesia | MM | 2 | None |
| Ma [51] | 150 | Auricular plaster 41.7 ± 0.7/3.2 ± 0.3 | Regular treatment 42.6 ± 0.5/3.1 ± 0.5 | NA | NA | 1 | NA |
| Sun and Chen [52] | 100 | Auricular plaster | Regular treatment | NA | MM | 2 | NA |
| Wang et al. [53] | 60 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy 40 ± 6.64/NA | Regular treatment 38 ± 7.02/NA | Intravertebral canal anesthesia | NA | 3 | Treatment group 1: 3 cases of voiding difficulties and 2 cases of edema; treatment group 2: 10 cases of voiding difficulties, 8 cases of edema |
| Yan et al. [54] | 80 | Auricular plaster 41.39 ± 9.4/NA | Regular treatment 46.18 ± 13.18/NA | NA | NA | 3 | NA |
| Pei et al. [7] | 130 | Acupoint catgut embedding therapy | Regular treatment | NA | MM | 2 | NA |
Outcome indicators: 1: total effective rate; 2: pain score; 3: pain degree; NA: not available; MM: Milligan-Morgan; PPH: procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids; CSEA: combined spinal-epidural anesthesia.