Objective:To compare the effectiveness of fire needle versus Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster. Methods:Randomized controlled trials comparing fire needle with Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster were identified using 8 databases. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results:Eight trials involving 569 patients were included in this meta-analysis, and the results showed that fire needle was superior to Western medicine comparing the effective rate [risk ratio (RR)=1.13, 95％ confidence interval (CI): 1.06 to 1.20;P=0.0002], the visual analog scale (VAS) score [mean difference(MD)=–7.95, 95％ CI: –10.71 to –5.20;P<0.00001], time of pain disappearance (MD=–7.61, 95％CI: –9.38 to –5.84;P<0.00001), time of blister-stop (MD=–1.34, 95％CI: –1.51 to –1.18;P<0.00001), time of crusted scab (MD=–2.92, 95％CI: –3.62 to –2.23;P<0.00001), and time of scab off (MD=–4.64, 95％CI: –5.83 to –3.46;P<0.00001). In addition, a significantly lower incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was found in the fire needle group in 30 d (RR=0.23, 95％CI: 0.11 to 0.51;P=0.0002) and 60 d (RR=0.33, 95％CI: 0.12 to 0.91; P=0.03) after treatment. Conclusion:Fire needle has a favorable effect in increasing the effective rate, relieving pain, recovering skin lesions and decreasing incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in the treatment of herpes zoster. However, considering the limitations in this study, the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prognostic risk factors in incidental gallbladder cancer (IGBC) and evaluate the effect of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) applied in treating IGBC.

METHODSThe retrospective study enrolled 55 patients with incidental gallbladder adenocarcinoma treated between January 2001 and December 2008. The patients were divided into three groups according to different surgical approaches: laparoscope group (n = 23), conversion group (n = 6) and laparotomy group (n = 26). Survival analysis and Cox regression model were applied to comparing the difference of survival rate between three groups and to analyzing the related prognostic risk factors of IGBC.

RESULTSThe overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 74.3%, 47.7% and 35.8% respectively. And the median survival time was 36 months. The outcome of survival rate between three groups was not different statistically. Cox regression analysis indicated that pathologic T stage was an independent risk factor influencing IGBC (OR = 2.75, P = 0.00). The prognosis was getting worse according to the rising depth of tumor invasion. However, the other factors, such as surgical approach, tumor incisional implantation, ect.were not related to the prognosis (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe factor of pathologic T stage is related to the prognosis of IGBC for which LC, compared with open cholecystectomy, should not be regarded as a negative factor in treatment.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gallbladder Neoplasms ; surgery ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors