ArticleWorld journal of clinical cases2022
Outcome of the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine for functional constipation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in World journal of clinical cases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Traditional herbal medicine for opioid-induced constipation in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Runchangningshen paste activates NLRP6 inflammasome-mediated autophagy to stimulate colonic mucin-2 secretion and modulates mucosal microbiota in functional constipation.World journal of gastroenterology · 2025Article
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 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFunctional constipation (FC) is a common and chronic gastrointestinal disease and its treatment remains challenging.
aimTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) on efficacy rate, global symptoms, bowel movements and the Bristol Stool Scale score in patients with FC by summarizing current available randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
methodsRCTs with CHM to treat FC were identified by a systematic search of six databases from inception to October 20, 2020. Two independent reviewers assessed the quality of the included articles and extracted data. Meta-analyses were performed to odds ratio (OR), mean differences (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using random-effects models. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were used to explore and interpret the sources of heterogeneity. The funnel plot, Begg's test and Egger's test were used to detect publication bias.
resultsNinety-seven studies involving 8693 patients were included in this work. CHM was significantly associated with a higher efficacy rate (OR: 3.62, 95%CI: 3.19-4.11,
conclusionIn this meta-analysis, we found that CHM may have potential benefits in increasing the number of bowel movements, improving stool characteristics and alleviating global symptoms in FC patients. However, a firm conclusion could not be reached because of the poor quality of the included trials. Further trials with higher quality are required.
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