Clinical Efficacy Of Oral Propranolol Versus Corticosteroids Inthe Treatment Of Infantile Superficial Hemangiomas:A Meta-analysis

Objective:To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of oral propranolol in infantile hemangiomas by comparing with corticosteroids. Methods:Systematic literature research of Cochrane,Pubmed,Embase,Sino Med,V IP,CNKI and Wan Fang datebase.We chosed "propranolol", "randomized controlled trial", "infantile hemangioma" as keywords to search randomized controlled trials(RCTs) of the effectuality and safety of propranolol versus corticosteroids in the treatment of infantile superficial hemangiomas between Jan 2008 and Jun 2013,and retrieved the references of the included literature to prevent leak investigation. The methodological quality of the ultimately included studies was assessed comprehensively,and meta-analysis were implemented using the Cochrane Collaboration’s software Rev Man 5.3. Results:A total of 11 RCTs involving 669 patients with superficial hemangioma,which the experimental group include 361 patients and they oral propranolol,and the control group include 308 patients and they oral prednisone.A descriptive analysis of the results was presented:Compared with the effective rate,the experimental group and the control group were statistically significant difference [OR=3.92,95%CI(2.77,5.54),P<0.00001],and the experimental group better than the control group.Compared with the incidence of adverse reaction,the experimental group and the control group were statistically significant difference [OR=0.09,95%CI(0.06,0.14),P<0.00001],and the experimental group less than the control group. Conclusion:The results indicated that oral propranolol in the treatment of infantile hemangiomas can obviously improve the efficiency and reduce the incidence of adverse reactions compared to oral corticosteroids.