Antiamoebic drugs for treating amoebic colitis - The Cochrane Library

Inclusion of all randomized participants in the analysis
The number of participants followed up was adequate (greater or
equal to 90%) in 32 trials for at least one outcome. Four trials reported
losses of participants greater than 10% (Panggabean 1980;
Sitepu 1982; Pamba 1990; Mohammed 1998), while in one trial,
only the number analysed was reported but the actual number
initially randomized, those lost to follow up, and those who were
not compliant with the treatment protocol were not reported (
Chunge 1989).
Effects of interventions
Details of the comparisons and interventions included in the review
are shown in Appendix 9.
1. Single alternative drugs versus metronidazole
Sixteen trials compared alternative nitroimidazoles with metronidazole,
and one trial compared praziquantel with metronidazole.
1.1. Tinidazole versus metronidazole
For clinical failure 15 to 60 days after the end of treatment, tinidazole
reduced clinical failure by 72% compared with metronidazole
(RR 0.28, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.51; 477 participants, 8 trials,
Analysis 1.2 and Figure 1). A sensitivity analysis evaluating quality
in relation to allocation concealment and blinding was not possible.
There was no significant change in the overall result when we
excluded Misra 1978, which may be a duplicate publication of an
earlier trial (Misra 1977) (RR 0.31, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.61, analysis
not shown). Excluding four trials funded by pharmaceutical companies
(Misra 1974; Joshi 1975; Mathur 1976; Singh 1977) also
did not affect the overall result (RR 0.24, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.50,
analysis not shown).
Antiamoebic drugs for treating amoebic colitis (Review)
Copyright © 2009 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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