Systematic review of Chinese herbal medicine for functional constipation

Figure 1 Flow diagram for literature search. TCM: Traditional Chinese medicine; CJN: China Journal Net; CHM: Chinese herbal medicine; RCTs: Randomized controlled trials.

Figure 2 Methodological quality graph: judgments about each methodological quality item presented as percentages across all included studies.

Figure 3 Methodological quality summary: judgments about each methodological quality item for each included study. a: Adequate sequence generation? b: Allocation concealment? c: Blinding? d: Incomplete outcome data addressed? e: Free of selective reporting? f: Free of other bias?

Figure 4 Comparison of CHM vs cisapride, failure to respond at endpoint. ¹Add-on treatment: CHM + cisapride vs cisapride; ²Add-on combined treatment: CHM + (cisapride + lactulose) vs cisapride + lactulose. CHM: Chinese herbal medicine.

Figure 5 Comparison of CHM/CHM + PEG vs PEG, failure to respond at endpoint. ¹Add-on combined treatment: CHM + PEG vs PEG. PEG: Polyethylene glycol.

Figure 6 Comparison of CHM/CHM + mosapride vs mosapride, failure to respond at endpoint. ¹3 arms study: CHM vs mosapride; ²3 arms study: CHM + mosapride vs mosapride.

Figure 7 Comparison of CHM vs phenolphthalein, failure to respond at endpoint.

Figure 8 Comparison of CHM vs MaRen auxiliary, failure to respond at endpoint.

Figure 9 Comparison of RunChangTongBianNongSuo Pill vs MaRen Pill/MaZiRen Pill, failure to respond at endpoint.