Pediatric Tuina for the treatment of functional dyspepsia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is the most prevalent pediatric gastrointestinal disorder, imposing a significant burden on healthcare services and often persisting into adulthood. Tuina, a traditional manual therapy, is frequently employed in the treatment of FD. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tuina in treating FD in children. Methods: A comprehensive search of 11 databases was conducted for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to June 2022. Two independent reviewers screened the literature, extracted data, assessed the methodological quality of the RCTs using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool, and performed meta-analysis using Review Manager software to quantify Tuina’s efficacy. Results: The review covered ten RCTs with 1336 children. Tuina, alone or with conventional therapy (CT), significantly improved efficacy rates over CT alone (relative risk (RR) = 1.16, 95 % confidence interval (CI) [1.11, 1.21], p