Modified Hu-Lian-Bi-Guan decoction for wound healing in complex anal fistula: A randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Demographic and clinical information of each group, n (%)

Items	Total patients, n = 56	Control group, n =28	mHLBGD group, n =28	P value
Age (year)	37.32 ± 11.67	36.29 ± 11.78	38.36 ± 11.68	0.5
Gender				0.9
Male	49 (88)	25 (89)	24 (86)
Female	7 (13)	3 (11)	4 (14)
Wexner score				0.4
0	54 (96)	27 (96)	27 (96)
2	1 (1.8)	1 (3.6)	0 (0)
3	1 (1.8)	0 (0)	1 (3.6)
Total wound length (cm)	12.17 ± 5.69	11.59 ± 4.82	12.68 ± 6.42	0.5

mHLBGD: Modified Hu-Lian-Bi-Guan decoction.

Table 2 Comparison of wound healing rate in two groups (%)

Group	Postoperative days 14	Postoperative days 28	Postoperative days 42
Control (n = 28)	23 ± 6.3	35 ± 13.48	46 ± 15.74
mHLBGD (n = 28)	32 ± 5.73c	40.8 ± 11.82c	53.53 ± 17.92a,b,c
F	Fgroup = 27.950, Ftime = 28.258, Finteraction effect = 27.755
P value	Pgroup < 0.001, Ptime < 0.001, Pinteraction effect < 0.001

^aP < 0.05 vs postoperative day 14.

^bP < 0.05 vs postoperative day 28.

^cP < 0.05 vs the control group.

mHLBGD: Modified Hu-Lian-Bi-Guan decoction.

Table 3 Comparison of postoperative pain score, Wound Exudate Score and Wound Edema Score in two groups

Outcome	Group	Postoperative days 1	Postoperative days 7	Postoperative days 14	Postoperative days 28	F	P
VAS	Control, (n = 28)	6.71 ± 0.46	5.89 ± 0.88a	2.96 ± 0.69a,b	1.61 ± 0.74a,b,c	Fgroup = 78.890, Ftime = 108.494, Finteraction effect = 20.671	Pgroup < 0.001, Ptime < 0.001, Pinteraction effect < 0.001
	mHLBGD, (n = 28)	7.39 ± 0.69	3.61 ± 0.88a,d	0.96 ± 0.92a,b,d	0.32 ± 0.48a,b,c,d
Wound Exudate Score	Control, (n = 28)	4.89 ± 0.57	5.50 ± 0.69a	3.68 ± 0.77a,b	2.86 ± 0.65a,b,c	Fgroup = 104.532, Ftime = 113.432, Finteraction effect = 114.272	Pgroup < 0.001, Ptime < 0.001, Pinteraction effect < 0.001
	mHLBGD, (n = 28)	5.36 ± 0.68	4.43 ± 0.63a,d	2.89 ± 0.69a,b,d	1.04 ± 0.39a,b,c,d
Wound Edema Score	Control, (n = 28)	5.43 ± 1.07	5.25 ± 0.80a	3.86 ± 0.36a,b	/	Fgroup = 25.963, Ftime = 45.106, Finteraction effect = 142.316	Fgroup < 0.001, Ftime < 0.001, Finteraction effect < 0.001
	mHLBGD, (n = 28)	5.81 ± 0.69	3.36 ± 0.49a,d	1.82 ± 0.39a,b,d	/

^aP < 0.05 vs postoperative day 1.

^bP < 0.05 vs postoperative day 7.

^cP < 0.05 vs postoperative day 14.

^dP < 0.05 vs the control group.

VAS: Visual Analog Scale; mHLBGD: Modified Hu-Lian-Bi-Guan decoction.

Table 4 Comparison of Wexner incontinence score in two groups

Group	Enrollment day	Postoperative days 28	Postoperative days 42
Control (n = 28)	0.07 ± 0.38	0.11 ± 0.31	0.04 ± 0.20
mHLBGD (n = 28)	0.11 ± 0.57	0.22 ± 0.70	0.04 ± 0.20
F	Fgroup = 0.597, Ftime = 1.056, Finteraction effect = 0.229
P value	Pgroup = 0.443, Ptime = 0.352, Pinteraction effect = 0.796

mHLBGD: Modified Hu-Lian-Bi-Guan decoction.