Objectives: The purpose of this study is to provide clinical evidence of herbal medicine for postpartum hypogalactia by review of randomized controlled trials on the effect of herbal medicine for postpartum hypogalactia.
Methods: We searched randomized controlled trials about herbal medicine of postpartum hypogalactia from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (January 2012 to 16th September 2016). The selected literatures were assessed by Jadad scale.
Results: 25 papers were selected from 570 studies. Analyses of selected studies indicated that the total effective rate was significantly higher in the herbal medicine treatment group, as compared to general treatment, placebo, western medicine or no treatment group. The most commonly used herbs were Angelicae Gigantis Radix (當歸), Vaccariae Semen (王不留行), Astragali Radix (黃芪), Tetrapanacis Medulla (通草), Codonopsis Pilosulae Radix
(黨蔘), Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草), Radix Ophiopogonis (麥冬), Ligustici Rhizoma (川芎), Bupleuri Radix (柴胡), Radix Rhapontici seu Echinopsis (漏蘆). There were no serious adverse events reported from herbal medicine treatment group during the treatment period.
Conclusions: Herbal medicine has been shown as not only effective but also safe treatment on postpartum hypogalactia. This finding can be widely utilized in clinical practice and can form the basis for the development of clinical practice guidelines in future.