Fire Needling Acupuncture for Adult Patients with Acute Herpes Zoster: Protocol of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Lu Liu,1 Qiuyi Chen,1 Jiwei Yang,2 Weijuan Gang,2 Luopeng Zhao,1 Tianli Lyu,1 Xianghong Jing,2 Claire Shuiqing Zhang,3 Bin Li1 1Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Neuromodulation, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaCorrespondence: Claire Shuiqing Zhang, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Plenty Road, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, Tel +61 3 9925 7002, Fax +61 3 9925 7178, Email claire.zhang@rmit.edu.au Bin Li, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Neuromodulation, 23, Meishuguanhou Street, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 18910781852, Fax +86 52176055, Email libin@bjzhongyi.comBackground: Acute herpes zoster (HZ) is characterized as a vesicular rash with unilateral distribution produced by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus. It can induce various comorbidities that can adversely influence the quality of life of patients. The purpose of this systematic review is to assess the effect and safety of fire needling acupuncture on acute HZ.Methods: Three English databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and four Chinese Databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang database, Chongqing VIP database, and China Biology Medicine database) will be searched from their inceptions to July 2022. Randomized controlled trials investigating fire needling acupuncture therapy for acute HZ will be included, regardless of publication status. Two reviewers will independently conduct the study screening, data extraction, and research q