Effect of fire needle combined with traditional Chinese medicine on psoriasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The mechanism of action of fire acupuncture and Chinese medicine in psoriasis is unclear. In this paper, the efficacy of the 2 therapies was compared through a comprehensive analysis of their recurrence rates for clinical reference. Methods: In this meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, CQVIP, and CBM data from the establishment of the databases to May 2023. The study proposed to use randomized controlled trial research methods, excluding published literature, unpublished literature, literature with incomplete or inadequate information, animal experiments, literature reviews and systematic studies. Data were processed using STATA 15.1 software. Results: Our group previous study found that the clinical efficacy of the fire-acupuncture group was significantly improved compared to that of Chinese herbal medicine alone (RR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.13–1.27). Also, there were significant reductions in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score (SMD = −1.04,95% CI: −1.48 to −0.60), area of skin damage (SMD = −0.40,95% CI: −0.75 to −0.04), and pruritus (SMD = −1.04,95% CI: −1.32 to −0.76). Our previous study found that Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was significantly lower in the fire acupuncture group compared to herbal medicine alone (SMD = −1.61,95% CI: −3.08 to −0.15). The combined analysis found that the recurrence rate was significantly lower in the fire-acupuncture group compared to herbal medicine alone (RR = 0.21,95% CI:0.07–0.60). Conclusion: Fire needle can improve the efficacy of TCM in the treatment of psoriasis, including the area, severity and itching of skin lesions, and reduce the recurrence rate, which is worthy of clinical promotion.