Systematic Evaluation and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of Fire Needle Combined Phototherapy for the Treatment of Vitiligo

Abstract

This study investigated the fire needle and phototherapy combination for treating vitiligo through a meta-analysis of the published literature. Indeed, vitiligo is a common chronic skin condition characterized by the appearance of white patches. It is the most prevalent disorder, affecting approximately 1% of the global population. There is no known cure or clinical recommendation for treating vitiligo. The majority of medical guidelines suggest vitiligo treatment with the use of fire needles. Here, vitiligo was treated with a novel mechanism combining a fire needle with phototherapy. The handheld phototherapy devices include a fire needle option for disease treatment. Miniature lesions that could be used to detect and treat vitiligo at an early stage could be managed by hybrid-capable devices. The real-time study included more than 3,435 patients. The dosages were altered to control the adverse effects. Following treatment, granulation tissues developed on the injured skin, diminishing the shallow area and wound surface. The case studies demonstrate that combining phototherapy and fire needle therapy is more practical than the other methods.

Acupuncture for vitiligo: An overview of systematic reviews and meta‐analysis

“…The authors of all SRs provided information regarding the types of studies included and utilized appropriate statistical methods to combine the results. However, only a small portion (30%) provided detailed descriptions of the included studies 22,27,28 and reported all potential sources of conflicts of interest comprehensively. Unfortunately, none of the SRs provided a list of excluded literature and demonstrated the rationale behind these exclusions.…”

“…Subsequently, the full texts were evaluated based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, leading to the exclusion of 11 more articles. Finally, a total of 10 SRs [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] were selected for further analysis. The complete screening and selection process is presented visually in Figure 1.…”

“…Regarding the quality assessment methods, eight SRs utilized the Cochrane risk of bias tool (20-24, 26-28), while two SRs used both the Jadad scale and the Cochrane risk of bias tool (19,25). Subgroup analyses were conducted in eight of the studies (19)(20)(21)(22)(24)(25)(26)(27), and sensitivity analyses were performed in five studies (21,24,(26)(27)(28). Detailed data extraction can be found in Table 2.…”

“…Among the 10 included SRs/MAs, with the exception of one study (28), the remaining 9 SRs/MAs explicitly reported on the occurrence of adverse events associated with acupuncture treatment for vitiligo, and all included studies failed to identify any significant adverse reactions. Among these, five studies (19,20,21,25,27)…”

“…In domain 3, only one SRs/MAs (28) was categorized as high risk for lacking descriptions of data extraction procedures. Domain 4 revealed that six SRs/MAs(19,20,23,25,27,28) were classified as high risk for not conducting sensitivity analyses to assess the stability of the results, while the remaining SRs/MAs were considered low risk. In Stage 3, considering overall bias risk, five SRs/MAs(19,20,23,25,28) were evaluated as high risk for not providing explanations or supplements regarding bias risk, while the rest of the SRs/MAs were deemed low…”