title: Moxibustion for Primary Dysmenorrhea at Different Interventional Times: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is one of the most common diseases in gynecology at present. Some clinical trials have reported the effects of moxibustion and confirmed temporal factors are the important elements influencing the efficacy of moxibustion. However, no systematic review has yet been conducted. In this study, we assessed the effects of moxibustion in patients with PD enrolled in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the difference among different intervention times to start moxibustion. We extracted data for studies searched from 10 electronic databases and evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies. We discussed three outcomes: effective rate, pain remission, and the level of PGF2αin serum. Current clinical researches showed that, compared with nonmoxibustion treatments for PD, moxibustion leads to higher effective rate and lower level of PGF2αin serum. However, there was no difference in using moxibustion to treat PD at different intervention times. Based on the theory of Chinese medicine and the results of this study, choosing 5 ± 2 days before menstruation to start moxibustion can achieve good efficacy for PD patients. However, more high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm the conclusions.
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Chao-Qin
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7061-5217
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Chen-Xi
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Ding-Xi
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Mou
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 37 Shierqiao Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao