Effects of acupuncture treatment on posttraumatic headache after traumatic brain injury in patients

Background:. Posttraumatic headache (PTH) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common clinical symptom, which refers to a headache that occurs after TBI. Acupuncture is often used for the treatment of such patients in China, and significant clinical effects have been achieved. However, to date, its efficacy has not been methodically evaluated. The purpose of this systematic review is to provide evidence to prove the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of PTH in patients with TBI. Methods:. This systematic review will be conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols. The following electronic databases will be searched from their inception to February 2022: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and Chinese databases such as Chinese Biomedical Literature (CBM), Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), WanFang Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). No language restrictions will be applied to the search strategy. Randomized controlled trials and cohort and case-control studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be included in this study. The meta-analysis will be performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Each session of this systematic review will be conducted independently by 2 members. Results:. This review evaluates the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of PTH after TBI. Conclusion:. This review provides substantial evidence for the clinical application of acupuncture in PTH treatment after TBI. Ethics and dissemination:. Since the data in this study will be retrieved from published trials, therefore the Patient Consent Statement and Ethical Approval are not required. We will disseminate our results by publishing the research in a peer-reviewed journal. Trail registration number:. The protocol was registered in INPLASY (INPLASY 202220073).