Efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for pneumonia convalescence in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis
What this study found
CHM, either alone or combined with Western medicine, was more effective than Western medicine alone for pneumonia convalescence in children. Pooled findings showed better overall treatment response and shorter cough duration, lung rales disappearance time, and length of hospital stay. Adverse reactions did not differ significantly between groups and were generally mild. The authors judged the evidence to be limited by heterogeneity and overall moderate to very low certainty, so the findings should be confirmed in larger high-quality multicenter trials.
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 randomized controlled trials from China involving 2,241 children in the convalescent stage after pneumonia.
- Intervention
- The active intervention was Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), delivered as a variety of oral formulas, granules, or decoctions such as Liujunzi decoction, Yupingfeng granule, Sha-Sheng-Mai-Dong decoction, Qingfei Tongluo decoction, Huoxuehuayu decoction, Erchen decoction, Xiaoqinglong decoction, and other self-made…
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was heterogeneous, with multiple different CHM formulas, variable cointerventions, and short treatment courses.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Background: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has advantages in treating sequela symptoms of pediatric pneumonia convalescence. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHM using a meta-analysis approach. Methods: The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that met the search strategy were selected from seven databases from the inception date to December 17, 2021. Based on the Cochrane handbook, the quality of the selected studies was assessed using the risk of bias. Data were expressed as relative risk (RR) or mean difference (MD) and with 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were performed. The Grading Recommendation Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method was used to assess the evidence certainty. Result: Twenty RCTs with 2,241 participants were identified using the search criteria. CHMs included Danshen injection, Liujunzi decoction, Qingfei Tongluo decoction, Yiqi Huoxue decoction, Yupingfeng granule, XiaoErFeiKe granule, Sha-Sheng-Mai-Dong decoction, and so on. Results indicated that CHM combined with Western medicine (WM) or CHM alone improved the total clinical effective rate (RR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.15–1.29), reduced cough relief time (MD = −2.16; 95% CI: −2.46 to −1.85), lung rales disappearance time (MD = −1.82; 95% CI: −2.17 to −1.47), and length of hospital stay (MD = −2.01, 95% CI: −3.81 to −0.22) in the treatment of pneumonia convalescence in children. However, there was no significant statistical difference regarding the incidence of adverse reactions (RR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.23–1.43). Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/; Identifier CRD42022298936 Graphical Abstract