RETRACTION: Effect of Chinese Herbal Topical Medicine, Acupuncture, and Moxibustion on Pressure Ulcer Wound Healing: A Meta-Analysis. Int Wound J. 2025 Apr;22(4):e70417. https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.70417. PMID: 40139240; PMCID: PMC11943834.
| Objective | We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of Chinese herbal topical medicine, acupuncture, and moxibustion on pressure ulcer wound healing. |
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| Methods and Results | A systematic literature search up to January 2022 was done and 13 studies included 1073 subjects with pressure ulcer wound at the start of the study; 593 of them were using traditional Chinese medicine treatments, and 480 were control for pressure ulcer wound. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the effect of Chinese herbal topical medicine, acupuncture, and moxibustion on pressure ulcer wound healing by the dichotomous methods with a random or fixed-influence model. Traditional Chinese medicine treatments had significantly higher complete healing (OR, 5.94; 95% CI, 3.94-8.95, P < .001), and curative ratio post-treatment (OR, 4.79; 95% CI, 2.62-8.76, P < .001) compared with control for subjects with pressure ulcer wound. |
| Conclusions | Traditional Chinese medicine treatments had a significantly higher complete healing and curative ratio post-treatment compared with control for subjects with pressure ulcer wounds. Further studies are needed to validate these findings. |
Zhang QH, Sun ZR, Yue JH, Ren X, Qiu LB, Lv XL, Du W. Traditional chinese medicine for pressure ulcer: a meta-analysis. Int Wound J. 2013;10(2):221-31. [166388].
| Backgound | To assess the effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) [Chinese herbal medicine ointment (CHMO), acupuncture and moxibustion] on pressure ulcer. |
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| Method | In this study, we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTER, CBM, CNKI, WAN FANG and VIP for articles published from database inception up to 4 April 2011. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which compared the effects of TCM with other interventions. We assessed the methodological quality of these trials using Cochrane risk of bias criteria. |
| Results | Ten of 565 potentially relevant trails that enrolled a total of 893 patients met our inclusion criteria. All the included RCTs only used CHMO intervention, because acupuncture and moxibustion trials failed to meet the inclusive criteria. A meta-analysis showed beneficial effects of CHMO for pressure ulcer compared with other treatments on the total effective rate [risk ratio (RR): 1•28; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1•20-1•36; P = 0•53; I(2) = 0%), curative ratio (RR: 2•02; 95% CI: 1•73-2•35; P = 0•11; I(2) = 37%) and inefficiency rate (RR: 0•16; 95% CI: 0•02-0•80; P = 0•84; I(2) = 0%). However, the funnel plot indicated that there was publication bias in this study. |
| Conclusion | The evidence that CHMO is effective for pressure ulcer is encouraging, but due to several caveats, not conclusive. Therefore, more rigorous studies seem warranted. |
Cui Y, Zhou X, Sun Z, Yin H. Efficacy of acupuncture therapies on pressure injury: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Asian J Surg. 2023 Nov;46(11):5224-5226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2023.07.009
| In conclusion, our study suggests acupuncture is an effective and safe strategy for treating PI. Heat-sensitive moxibustion combined with standard wound care was the most effective acupuncture-related technique in promoting PI healing. Moreover, electroacupuncture with standard wound care was the best acupuncture treatment for relieving PI-related pain. However, owing to the limitations of our study experienced (Appendix), these findings should be interpreted with caution. |
Zhang D, Ding Y, Yin J, Zhang X, Sun X, Zhang Y, Zhang H. Moxibustion's therapeutic impact on wound healing in patients with pressure injury: A systematic review. Eur J Integr Med. 2026;85:102671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2026.102671
| Introduction | Moxibustion therapy, as an external treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, may show potential in improving the healing of pressure injuries. This systematic review aims to evaluate the potential clinical effects of moxibustion on wound healing in patients with pressure injuries. |
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| Methods | The systematic review followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines using a search strategy to extract articles from the included databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, the China Network Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the China Scientific Journals Database (VIP), the Wan Fang Database and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Serving System (SinoMed), all published before December 31, 2024. The quality of the studies was assessed by using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale and the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2.0). |
| Results | A total of 28 randomized controlled trials were included. There are various treatment methods of moxibustion, most of which are combined treatment rather than single treatment. Moxibustion therapy is associated with wound healing, pain relief, reduced systemic inflammation, increased levels of angiogenic factors, improved wound pH, and better psychological outcomes. Adverse events were reported in only a few studies, and reporting was inconsistent across trials. Major limitations include small sample sizes, lack of blinding, high risk of bias, marked clinical heterogeneity, and frequent use of nonstandardized outcome measures. |
| Conclusion | Moxibustion alone or in combination with topical drug patches or other adjuvant therapies was associated with favorable trends in wound healing and pain relief in included studies; however, due to the high heterogeneity of included studies, predominance of combined interventions, and potential risk of bias, more high-quality randomized trials are needed to confirm the potential beneficial effects of moxibustion. |