Eur J Dermatol. 2026 Jun 1;36(3):256-265. doi: 10.1684/ejd.2026.5079.
ABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been increasingly applied in treating diabetic pruritus. Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the efficacy and safety of TCM or integrated TCM-Western therapy for diabetic pruritus. This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered with registration number: INPLASY202570074. Major Chinese and international databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, PubMed, Web of Science and ScienceDirect) were searched between their inception and December 2024. Eligible randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating TCM or integrated TCM-Western therapies for diabetic pruritus were included. Two independent researchers performed literature screening, data extraction and quality assessment according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Outcome indicators included clinical efficacy rate, pruritus severity (Visual Analogue Scale [VAS] score) and incidence of adverse reactions. Meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.4, Stata 16.0 or R 4.x. A total of 13 RCTs were included, with 557 participants in both the control group and the experimental group. Meta-analysis showed that TCM or integrated TCM-Western therapies significantly improved clinical efficacy compared with control groups (risk ratio [RR]=1.30, 95% CI:1.17-1.45, p<0.001). Most studies favoured TCM or integrated therapy in reducing VAS scores. Pooled estimate (mean difference=-1.09, 95% CI: -2.20-0.03, p=0.06) did not reach statistical significance due to high heterogeneity (I²=92.8%), indicating substantial variability among studies. Despite the heterogeneity, the existing evidence suggests that TCM or integrated TCM-Western therapies have potential -clinical advantages in treating diabetic pruritus, including improved efficacy and lower incidence of adverse reactions.
PMID:42507401 | DOI:10.1684/ejd.2026.5079
