Salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection combined with mecobalamin for treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Currently, it is unclear whether the salviae miltiorrhizae (Danshen Salvia) and ligustrazine hydrochloride (Chuanxiong Chuanxiong) (SMLH) injection combined with mecobalamin can improve diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). We conducted a systematic analysis to evaluate the clinical effects of SMLH injection combined with mecobalamin for treating DPN. Seven databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang Database (Wang Fang), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP) were searched for systematic literature retrieval. Each database was searched up to 2020 to identify randomized controlled trials on DPN treated with SMLH injection combined with mecobalamin. We used the RevMan 5.3 and Stata 14.0 software to assess the risk of bias in the included trials. A total of 15 publications, including 1349 samples, were reviewed. The total effective rate of SMLH injection combined with mecobalamin was 31% higher than that of mecobalamin alone (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.23-1.38; P