Introduction: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture on relieving abdominal pain and distension in acute pancreatitis.
Methods and analysis: We will electronically search PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trial, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biomedical Literature Database, China Science Journal Database, and Wanfang Database from their inception. Furthermore, we will manually retrieve other resources, including reference lists of identified publications, conference articles, and gray literature. The clinical randomized controlled trials or quasi-randomized controlled trials related to acupuncture treating acute pancreatitis will be included in the study. The language is limited to Chinese and English. Research selection, data extraction, and research quality assessment will be independently completed by 2 researchers. Data will be synthesized using a fixed effects model or random effects model depending on the heterogeneity test. The overall response rate and the visual analog scale score will be the primary outcomes. The time of first bowel sound, the time of first defecation, the length of hospitalization, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score, and the adverse events will also be assessed as secondary outcomes. RevMan 5 (version 5.3) statistical software will be used for meta-analysis, and the level of evidence will be assessed by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. Continuous data will be expressed in the form of weighted mean difference or standardized mean difference with 95% confidence intervals, whereas dichotomous data will be expressed in the form of risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals.
Ethics and dissemination: The protocol of this systematic review does not require ethical approval because it does not involve humans. We will publish this article in peer-reviewed journals and present at relevant conferences.
Prospero registration number: CRD42019147503.