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Efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine in treating severe pneumonia: A meta-analysis and systematic review

Ao-Qiang Zhou, Haiqun Lin, Zhen Chen, Li-Na Luo, Xinyi Ye, Leng Li

Medicine, 2026

1 citation

Abstract

Background: Severe pneumonia (SP) is a critical respiratory disease characterized by its severity and high mortality rate. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has gradually been used as an adjunctive therapy in clinical treatment of SP, yet its efficacy and safety lack systematic evidence. This study aims to analyze, evaluate, and compare current research evidence on TCM adjunctive therapy for SP, providing a basis for clinical treatment of this condition. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on both English and Chinese online databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP) to identify relevant papers published from inception to November 2023. High-quality randomized controlled tests (RCTs) were selected for analysis. Outcome measures related to SP were extracted from the literature. Statistical analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 (Cochrane) software to assess heterogeneity among included studies, calculate mean differences, odds ratios, and their 95% confidence intervals, and detect publication bias. Results: A total of 34 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Comparative analysis revealed that integrating TCM with conventional treatment significantly improves the overall clinical effective rate(P < .05). Specifically, it markedly alleviates TCM symptoms (P < .05). Additionally, TCM adjunctive therapy reduces levels of inflammatory markers including white blood cells, C-reactive protein (P < .05), and decreases Clinical Pulmonary…

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