Meta-analysis on the effect of combining Lianhua Qingwen with Western medicine to treat coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide life-threatening pandemic. Lianhua Qingwen is believed to possess the ability to treat or significantly improve the symptoms of COVID-19. These claims make it important to systematically evaluate the effects of using Lianhua Qingwen with Western medicine to treat COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of combination therapy, employing Lianhua Qingwen with Western medicine, to treat COVID-19, using a meta-analysis approach. SEARCH STRATEGY: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies evaluating the effect of Lianhua Qingwen-Western medicine combination therapy in the treatment of COVID-19. INCLUSION CRITERIA: (1) Research object: hospitalized patients meeting the diagnostic criteria of COVID-19 were included. (2) Intervention measures: patients in the treatment group received Lianhua Qingwen treatment combined with Western medicine, while the control group received either Western medicine or Chinese medicine treatment. (3) Research type: randomized controlled trials and retrospective study were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Two researchers extracted the first author, the proportion of males and females, age, body temperature, course of treatment, rate of disappearance of main symptoms, duration of fever, adverse reactions, and total effectiveness from the literature. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as the effect value for count data, and mean difference (MD) and 95% CI were used as the effect value for measurement data. RESULTS: Six articles met the inclusion criteria, including a total of 856 COVID-19 patients. The meta-analysis showed that Lianhua Qingwen combination therapy achieved higher rates of fever reduction (OR = 3.43, 95% CI [1.78, 6.59], P = 0.0002), cough reduction (OR = 3.39, 95% CI [1.85, 6.23], P < 0.0001), recovery from shortness of breath (OR = 10.62, 95% CI [3.71, 30.40], P < 0.0001) and recovery from fatigue (OR = 2.82, 95% CI [1.44, 5.53], P = 0.003), higher total effectiveness rate (OR = 2.51, 95% CI [1.73, 3.64], P < 0.00001), and shorter time to recovery from fever (MD = -1.00, 95% CI [-1.04, 0.96], P < 0.00001), and did not increase the adverse reaction rate (OR = 0.65, 95% CI [0.42, 1.01], P = 0.06), compared to the single medication control. CONCLUSION: The Lianhua Qingwen and Western medicine combination therapy is highly effective for COVID-19 patients and has good clinical safety. As only a small number of studies and patients were included in this review, more high-quality, multicenter, large-sample-size, randomized, double-blind, controlled trials are still needed for verification.

Analysis of Bacterial Biofilm Formation in Patients with Malignancy Undergoing Double J Stent Indwelling and Its Influencing Factors.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the bacterial biofilm (BF) formation in patients with malignancy undergoing double J stent indwelling and its influencing factors. METHODS: A total of 167 patients with malignant tumors who received double J stent indwelling in the hospital from January 2018 to January 2021 were included in the study. The urine and double J stent samples were collected for bacterial identification and observed for BF formation on the surface of the urinary catheter under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the influencing factors of BF. RESULTS: The BF formation rate was 34.73% (58/167). The BF formation rate of positive specimens cultured in urine and double J stent was significantly higher than that of negative ones (P<0.05). Staphylococcus was the main BF bacteria in double J stent and urine culture specimens, followed by Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, and Acinetobacter. Compared with the non-BF group, the number of viable bacteria in the double J stent and urine and the catheterization time in the BF group rose markedly (P<0.05). Advanced age, chemotherapy, anemia, indwelling time ≥90d, and urinary tract infection were risk factors for BF formation in patients with malignancy undergoing double J stent indwelling (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a high rate of BF formation in patients with malignancy undergoing double J stent indwelling, with Staphylococcus as the dominant species. Treatment requires enhanced urinary catheter management and nutritional status to inhibit BF formation and lower the rate of urinary catheter-related infections.

Meta-analysis of mesh-plug repair and Lichtenstein repair in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia.

The present study systematically evaluated the clinical effects of mesh-plug and Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library (cut-off: May 25, 2020) databases were searched to select randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on mesh-plug and Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy for the treatment of primary inguinal hernia. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were screened and evaluated for quality. RevMan 5.3 software was used to perform a meta-analysis of operation time, discomfort in the inguinal region, haematoma, seroma, infection, time to return to normal activities, incidence of postoperative chronic pain, and recurrence rate. Eleven RCTs with 1457 patients in the mesh-plug group and 1472 in the Lichtenstein group were included. Meta-analysis showed that the mesh-plug herniorrhaphy group had a shorter operation time than the Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy group [P < 0.0001] but a longer time to return to normal activities after surgery [MD = 1.48, 95% CI (0.58, 2.38), P = 0.001]. There were no significant differences in postoperative discomfort in the inguinal region [P = 0.90], seroma [P = 0.10], haematoma [P = 0.27], infection [P = 0.40], incidence of postoperative chronic pain [P = 0.90], or recurrence rate [P = 0.77] between groups. Mesh-plug herniorrhaphy requires a shorter operation time than Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy, and there is no significant difference in postoperative complications or recurrence rate between the two methods. Clinical trial registration: INPLASY202070088. Meta-analysis of mesh -plug repair and Lichtenstein repair in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia.