SynthesisMedicine2019
Herbal medicine (Hyeolbuchukeo-tang or Xuefu Zhuyu decoction) for treating primary dysmenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Plant-Derived Therapies for Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Phytotherapy research : PTR · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical practice guidelines for endometriosis in Japan (The 3rd edition).The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research · 2022Guideline
- Chinese herbal formula Xuefu Zhuyu oral liquid for primary dysmenorrhea: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Trial
- An Open Trial of a Mind-Body Intervention for Young Women with Moderate to Severe Primary Dysmenorrhea.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2020Trial
- Herbal decoctions for dysmenorrhea under universal health coverage pilot project: Evidence from a nationwide claims database in the Republic of Korea.Integrative medicine research · 2025Article
- A Direct Relationship Between 'Blood Stasis' and Fibrinaloid Microclots in Chronic, Inflammatory, and Vascular Diseases, and Some Traditional Natural Products Approaches to Treatment.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- International standard of Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques: clinical guidelines for dysmenorrhea (2022).Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2024Article
- Ge-Gen Decoction Exerts an Anti-Primary Dysmenorrhea Effect in Rats by Inactivating the HSP90/NLRP3/NF-κB/COX-2 Pathway.Journal of inflammation research · 2023Article
- Involvement of a neutrophil-mast cell axis in the effects of Piper malacophyllum (C. PESL) C. DC extract and its isolated compounds in a mouse model of dysmenorrhoea.Inflammopharmacology · 2022Article
- Development of the Korean Medicine Core Outcome Set for Primary Dysmenorrhea (COS-PD-KM) for Herbal Medicine Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea in Primary Clinics.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Analysis of the Anti-Tumour Effect of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction Based on Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification inFrontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- The Effect of Chamomile on Pain and Menstrual Bleeding in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review.International journal of community based nursing and midwifery · 2021Review
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- The Therapeutic Effect of Ge-Gen Decoction on a Rat Model of Primary Dysmenorrhea: Label-Free Quantitative Proteomics and Bioinformatic Analyses.BioMed research international · 2020Article
- Dangguijagyag-san for primary dysmenorrhea: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Medicine · 2019Article
- A comparison of the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicines in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea: A network meta-analysis protocol.Medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrimary dysmenorrhea is a condition characterized by painful menstrual cramps that usually occurs in the absence of any identifiable pathological condition among menstruating women, with the prevalence estimates varying between 45% and 95%. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are considered as a standard treatment for primary dysmenorrhea; however, the failure rate of NSAIDs is often 20% to 25% and these drugs commonly cause adverse effects. In this review, we investigated the current evidence related to the effectiveness of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction (XZD) or Hyeolbuchukeo-tang, a traditional herbal formula, as a treatment for primary dysmenorrhea.
methodsLiterature search was conducted about randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for XZD on primary dysmenorrhea. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, and other Chinese, Korean, Japanese databases were searched up to December 20, 2017. Two independent reviewers extracted and assessed the data. The main outcome domains were visual analogue scale (VAS) score and response rate.
resultsAmong 475 publications, 8 RCTs involving 1048 patients were finally included. Methodological quality of included RCTs was relatively low. In 4 add-on design studies, XZD plus western medication (WM) group showed better response rate as compared to the WM sole therapy (relative risk 1.18, 95% confidence interval [1.11, 1.25], P < .01). VAS score after the 3rd month of treatment in the XZD plus WM group was also lower than that in the WM group (mean difference -0.45, 95% confidence interval [-0.79, -0.12], P < .01). In 4 XZD versus WM design studies, XZD sole therapy showed better response rate than did WM sole therapy (relative risk 1.26, 95% confidence interval [1.06, 1.49], P < .01).
conclusionThe existing trials showed a favorable effect of XZD for the management of primary dysmenorrhea. However, the efficacy of XZD on primary dysmenorrhea is not conclusive owing to the small number of studies and the high risk of bias. Large-scale, long-term RCTs with rigorous methodological input are needed to clarify the role of XZD for the management of primary dysmenorrhea. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016050447 in PROSPERO 2016.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.