Cerebral function imaging of acupuncture treatment for stroke: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background: Stroke is one of the most common causes of death and is the main cause of persistent and acquired disability in adults worldwide. Acupuncture is recommended as an alternative and complementary strategy for stroke treatment by the World Health Organization as it can significantly improve patients' quality of life. However, the central nervous system (CNS) mechanism of acupuncture treatment of stroke is unclear. The aim of this study is explore the effective pathway and action mechanism of acupuncture treatment for stroke on the CNS.Methods: The following databases will be searched by electronic methods: PubMed; Medline; Embase; Cochrane Library; Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure; VIP Database; Wan-fang Data; Chinese Biomedical Database. All of them will be retrieved from the establishment date of the electronic database to December 2020, all included studies will be evaluated risk of bias by the Cochrane Handbook. Spatial coordinates of the Montreal Neurological Institute of activated brain regions will be the primary outcome. The systematic review will be conducted with the use of SDM v5.141 software for voxel meta-analysis in this study.Results: This study will obtain the correlation between the activated brain regions of acupuncture treatment for stroke.Conclusion: This study will explore the effective pathway and action mechanism of acupuncture, and provide a reliable scientific basis for the treatment of stroke by acupuncture.PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021231329.