Panthi S, et al. – An appraisal was carried out of the effectiveness and safety of yang–warming method using Yang–warming Chinese medicine (YCM) in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). It was reported that Yang–warming Chinese medicines alone or in combination with western medicines were possibly better than conventional western medicines. However, reported works exhibited poor quality. Hence, the superiority of yang–warming method, using YCM to western medicines, could not be claimed for the treatment of DPN. This, in turn, necessitated advanced studies.

Methods

• A computer-based inquiry was pursued of the articles from January 2001 to April 2016 with Chinese and English databases such as CNKI, CBM, Wanfang, VIP, Medline, Embase and Cochrane central register of controlled trials.
• It also included a manual search of the related articles.
• Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) included were those that compared Yang-warming Chinese medicines with western medicines in the treatment of DPN.
• The outcome measures were change in the sensory or motor nerve conduction velocity, total efficacy rate evaluated by clinical symptoms improvement, and adverse events.
• Methodological quality of the included articles was evaluated via Jadad scale and the twelve criteria recommended by Cochrane Back Review Group by 2 authors.
• RevMan 5.3 software provided by Cochrane collaboration conducted data analysis.

Results

• 25 articles were selected.
• Yang-warming Chinese medicines used in the formula alone or in combination with western medicines improved the nerve conduction velocity (NCV) compared to western medicines alone (p < 0.001).
• A marked variation was noted in the total efficacy rate between the two groups (p < 0.001).
• Maximum studies did not clearly report the adverse events.