Since 2007, the Task Force for Evidence Reports (ER -TF) of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine EBM Committee has been exhaustively collecting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Kampo medicines in Japan, and then prepared and published structured abstracts (SAs) on the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine (JSOM) website as Kampo Chiryo Ebidensu Repoto (Evidence Reports of Kampo Treatment: EKAT). As indicated in the History of version upgrades on the next page, the complete version of EKAT 2013 at the time of release on 31 December 2013 listed 402 RCTs and 1 meta-analysis covering the period from 1986 to early 2013. The current quality standard for prescribed Kampo medicines went into effect in 1986.
JSOM continued its efforts to produce EKATs, with website publication of EKAT Appendix 2014, which included only additions and revisions to EKAT 2013, in June 2015, followed by EKAT Appendix 2015, which included only additions and revisions to EKAT Appendix 2014, in March 2017. The present “Evidence Reports of Kampo Treatment 2016: 467 Randomized Controlled Trials [EKAT 2016]”, issued on 1 November 2018, is a fully updated edition of EKAT.
The present EKAT 2016 includes all SAs in EKAT 2013, 15 SAs and 1 meta-analysis newly included in EKAT Appendix 2014, 31 SAs newly included in EKAT Appendix 2015, and 21 SAs newly prepared this time.
The SAs based on the following articles in EKAT 2013 have been deleted from the present report because they were brief reports or news articles that were superseded by final reports. These full reports were collected and their SAs were newly prepared.
- Yoshikawa K. Evaluation of anti-inflammatory efficacy of daikenchuto.—A study in a fasted rat model and a randomized controlled trial in postoperative patients with colorectal cancer— Dai 5 Kai Nippon Shokakan Gakkai Sokai Gakujutsu Syukai (5th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Gastroenterological Association) 2009: 9-10. (Deleted from EKAT Appendix 2014)
- Uehara R. An evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms and gastric mobility after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and an investigation of the usefulness of Rikkunshito (TJ-43). Dai 8 Kai Nippon Shokakan Gakkai Sokai Gakujutsu Syukai Workshop 4 PROCEEDING Jobu Shokaki Shojo to Kampo (Workshop 4 Proceedings of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Gastroenterological Association: Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Kampo) 2012: 16-7. (Deleted from EKAT Appendix 2015)
- Yaegashi M. Usefulness of daikenchuto in the laparoscopic colorectal cancer perioperative period. Progress in Medicine 2012; 32: 616-7. (Deleted from EKAT Appendix 2015)
Also, the 1990 and 1992 reports by Chisato Hirayama et al. were previously considered as separate RCTs and thus separate SAs were prepared. However, they were found to be the same study at the time of EKAT Appendix 2014 preparation, and accordingly the two SAs were consolidated into one SA.
Consequently, the present EKAT 2016 contains the SAs of 465 RCTs and two meta-analyses.
When one SA is prepared from multiple reports, the bibliographic information for all of the reports used to prepare the SA is listed in the order of year of publication at the top of the SA, with the main report indicated in bold face type.
