Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is no systematic review to compare the efficacy of acupuncture and acupotomy in patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. It is worthy to critically review the evidence of the comparison of these 2 therapies to inform clinical practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and acupotomy in the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy and to provide evidence for clinical practice. METHODS: Seven electronic databases including Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, Wanfang Data, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane Library were searched in March 2021 by 2 independent reviewers. Data extraction was performed independently, and any conflict was resolved before final analysis. Only randomized clinical trials were included in this study. Outcomes included pain intensity, symptom score, neck disability index, total effective rate, and curative rate. The Cochrane risk of bias tool is used to evaluate the risk of bias of included randomized controlled trials by 2 independent reviewers. RESULTS: We hypothesized that these 2 methods would provide similar therapeutic benefits. The results of this research will be delivered in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: This study expects to provide credible and scientific clinical evidence for the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and acupotomy in the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: 10.17605/OSF.IO/U7T6A.