Background: Blood pressure (BP) after a stroke is affected by autonomic regulation, the Cushing reaction, and basal history of hypertensive, arteriosclerotic conditions. To prevent recurrent stroke attack and its complications, BP must be regulated to within the normal range through monitoring, rest, and medication. Previous studies have reported that acupuncture may be effective in lowering BP in patients with hypertension. Objectives: This study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in regulating BP in stroke patients, including both cerebral infarction and hemorrhage. Methods: A review was conducted of articles published in English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese across 16 electronic databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Resister of Controlled Trials, AMED, CINAHL, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CiNii, and seven Korean databases) up to April 2020. Only randomized controlled trials that evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture for stroke patients were included and meta-analyzed, and BP data and risk of bias were extracted by scanning the full texts. Data analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3. Results: From the 16 electronic databases, 7623 relevant articles were identified, and 847 stroke patients of 10 trials met the inclusion criteria. Two trials reported that BP was lowered more in the group who had received acupuncture treatment than the group who were treated with conventional medication. Two trials reported that BP was lowered after auricular acupuncture treatment more than those observed in the group receiving conventional medical treatment. Six trials reported that BP in cerebral infarction patients was lower than in the control group. None of the trials reported any adverse events. Conclusions: It was concluded that acupuncture may be a suitable treatment option for regulating BP after stroke. However, the trials are not free from bias. Further reviews would yield positive results if well-designed trials are conducted.

Background: Dumping syndrome is a common complication of surgical treatment of gastric cancer, but conventional therapy has limitations related to symptom care due to its structural cause and the decreased quality of life. Objectives: The objective of this review was to assess the clinical evidence for the effectiveness of herbal medicine as a treatment for dumping syndrome. Methods: A literature review was conducted using 16 databases from their inceptions to March 2018. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of herbal medicine used to treat dumping syndrome patients were included and meta-analyzed. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Results: A total of 174 dumping syndrome patients of 3 trials met all inclusion criteria. Two trials assessed the effectiveness of herbal medicine on the symptom response rate compared with conventional pharmacotherapy. Their results suggested significant effects in favor of herbal medicine (risk ratio [RR] = 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16-1.63, P = .0003, heterogeneity τ2 = 0, χ2 = 0.02, P = .88, I2 = 0%). One trial assessed its effectiveness on the improvement rate of overall symptoms compared with conventional conservative complex therapy, such as postural management, diet regulation, and counseling (RR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.96-1.58). Conclusions: Due to the small sample size, scarcity of reported articles, and lack of quality of the current RCTs, it was concluded that the effectiveness of herbal medicine in treating dumping syndrome is unclear.

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