AIM: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Qiju Dihuang Pill on xerophthalmia.

METHODS: PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science. The Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data databases were electronically searched to identify randomized controlled trials(RCTs)of Qiju Dihuang Pill on xerophthalmia from the inception of the databases to June 2019. Two reviewers independently screened literatures, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of the included trials. The Meta-analysis was conducted with RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software.

RESULTS: Totally 17 RCTs with 1 662 patients were included. The results of the Meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the Qiju Dihuang Pill group had statistical difference in BUT(MD=4.32, 95% CI 3.15 to 5.49, P<0.00001), SⅠt(SMD =1.07, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.42, P<0.00001), FL(MD= -1.01, 95% CI -1.61 to -0.40, P=0.001), efficiency(OR=7.22, 95% CI 4.36 to 11.93, P<0.00001). There were no serious adverse reactions in either group. The results of GRADE showed that the level of evidence of BUT, SⅠt, efficiency was low, and the level of evidence of FL was very low.

CONCLUSION: The current evidence indicated that Qiju Dihuang Pill had a better therapeutic effect on xerophthalmia than conventional treatment, and no serious adverse reactions were reported in the study. Considering the limitations of the quality and quantity of the included studies,more well-designed randomized controlled trials are required to verify the above conclusions.