Acupuncture therapy for persistent and intractable hiccups: Protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Persistent and intractable hiccups bring serious inconvenience to patients’ work and daily life, and impair their quality of life. Relevant studies showed that acupuncture therapy might be effective in treating persistent and intractable hiccups. However, there is no consistent conclusion so far. The aim of our research is to investigate the safeties and effectiveness of acupuncture in treating patients with persistent and intractable hiccups.