Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16280069›Full record

SynthesisCritical care (London, England)2005

The use of prophylactic fluconazole in immunocompetent high-risk surgical patients: a meta-analysis.

Kwok M Ho, Jeffrey Lipman, Geoffrey J Dobb, Steven A R Webb

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Critical care (London, England), 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Fluconazole tolerance and virulence adaptations ofJournal of oral microbiology · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Candida Species Biofilms' Antifungal Resistance.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2017
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Risk prediction for invasive candidiasis.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2014
    Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Kwok M HoDepartment of Intensive Care, Royal Perth Hospital, Australia. kwok.ho@health.wa.gov.au
Jeffrey Lipman
Geoffrey J Dobb
Steven A R Webb
Royal Perth Hospital · AUUniversity of Queensland · AUUniversity of Western Australia · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionHigh-risk surgical patients are at increased risk of fungal infections and candidaemia. Evidence from observational and small randomised controlled studies suggests that prophylactic fluconazole may be effective in reducing fungal infection and mortality. We evaluated the effects of prophylactic fluconazole on the incidence of candidaemia and hospital mortality in immunocompetent high-risk surgical patients.

methodsRandomised controlled studies involving the use of fluconazole in immunocompetent high-risk surgical patients from the Cochrane Controlled Trial Register (2005, issue 1) and from the EMBASE and MEDLINE databases (1966-30 April 2005), without any language restriction, were included. Two reviewers reviewed the quality of the studies and performed data extraction independently.

resultsSeven randomised controlled studies with a total of 814 immunocompetent high-risk surgical patients were considered. The use of prophylactic fluconazole was associated with a reduction in the proportion of patients with candidaemia (relative risk [RR] = 0.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.06-0.72, P = 0.01; I2 = 0%) and fungal infections other than lower urinary tract infection (RR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.24-0.65, P = 0.0003; I2 = 0%), but was associated with only a trend towards a reduction in hospital mortality (RR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.62-1.08, P = 0.15; I2 = 7%). The proportion of patients requiring systemic amphotericin B as a rescue therapy for systemic fungal infection was lower after prophylactic use of fluconazole (RR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.17-0.72, P = 0.004; I2 = 0%). The proportion of patients colonised with or infected with fluconazole-resistant fungi was not significantly different between the fluconazole group and the placebo group (RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.22-1.96, P = 0.46; I2 = 0%).

conclusionThe use of prophylactic fluconazole in immunocompetent high-risk surgical patients is associated with a reduced incidence of candidaemia but with only a trend towards a reduction in hospital mortality.

Indexed as

Antifungal AgentsChemopreventionDose-Response Relationship, DrugDrug Administration RoutesFluconazoleHumansImmunocompetenceMycosesPerioperative CarePostoperative ComplicationsRisk AssessmentTreatment OutcomeAntifungal AgentsFluconazole

Identifiers

PMID16280069
PMCPMC1414000
OpenAlexW1949218306

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.