Safety and efficacy of auricular acupuncture in patients with depression after percutaneous coronary intervention: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:With the advantages of miniature damage and optimal effectiveness, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been performed in a large number of coronary artery disease patients. However, recent studies have indicated a higher incidence of depression on post-PCI patients. Acupuncture therapy is effective for depression. As a form of acupuncture, the auricular acupuncture has been used to relieve symptoms in patients with post-PCI depression, but its effectiveness and safety have not yet reached a definitive conclusion. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis protocol is planned to evaluate the efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture for depression in post-PCI patients.Methods:Six English databases (PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Springer Cochrane Library, and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform) and 4 Chinese databases (Wan Fang Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database) will be searched normatively according to the rule of each database from the inception to February 1, 2022. Two reviewers will independently conduct article selection, data collection, and risk of bias evaluation. Any disagreement will be resolved by discussion with the third reviewer. Either the fixed-effects or random-effects model will be used for data synthesis based on the heterogeneity test. The change in the scores on the Hamilton Depression Scale and the Self-rating Depression Scale will be used as the main outcome measure. All-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events, rehospitalisation rate, and Quality of Life Scale as the secondary outcome. Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale, general physical examination (temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure), routine examination of blood, urine and stool, electrocardiogram, liver and kidney function examination as the security indexes. RevMan 5.3.5 will be used for meta-analysis.Results:This study will provide high-quality evidence to assess the efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture for depression in post-PCI patients.Conclusion:This systematic review will explore whether auricular acupuncture is an effective and safe intervention for depression in post-PCI patients.INPLASY registration number:INPLASY202230003.