Context: Hydrocephalus refers to excessive secretion of cerebrospinal fluid, its insufficient absorption, or its blocked circulation and frequently occurs after a cerebral hemorrhage. The mortality and disability rates for cerebral hemorrhage are high.
Objective: The study intended to evaluate the clinical efficacy of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of hydrocephalus after a cerebral hemorrhage, using systematic screening and analysis of published literature.
Design: The research team performed a meta-analysis by searching databases-PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature-and collected Chinese and English publications from the establishment of each database until December 2022 discussing studies that used a TCM treatment that promoted blood circulation and removed blood stasis, combined with conventional western medicine, for hydrocephalus after cerebral hemorrhage. The keywords were promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, cerebral hemorrhage, and hydrocephalus. The team performed the meta-analysis using RevMan 5.3.
Results: The research team found five relevant studies, all of which were randomized controlled trials. The clinical efficacy TCM combined with conventional Western medicine was significantly better than that of other treatments [MD = 1.77, 95% CI (0.23, 3.31), Z = 12.18, P < .001]. The NIHSS score after the integrated treatments also improved significantly more than those of other treatments [MD = -2.54, 95% CI (-4.07, -1.01), Z = 5.16, P < .00001].
Conclusions: Activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis using TCM, combined with conventional Western medicine, can achieve ideal therapeutic effects for patients with hydrocephalus after a cerebral hemorrhage, which can have a positive influence on clinical efficacy and reduce the NIHSS score, and the combined treatments have a clinical value.