SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006
Are antibiotics effective for acute purulent rhinitis? Systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo controlled randomised trials.
Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06758804 (Evaluation of the Efficacy of Winterized Pistacia Lentiscus Oil in Reducing Purulent Bacterial Overinfection of Pediatric Rhinitis), which is not on this map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Evaluation of the Efficacy of Winterized Pistacia Lentiscus Oil in Reducing Purulent Bacterial Overinfection of Pediatric Rhinitis: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality assessment of diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of infectious diseases in primary care: a systematic review of quality indicators.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2016Pooled it
- Common cold.BMJ clinical evidence · 2011Pooled it
- Common cold.BMJ clinical evidence · 2008Pooled it
- Effectiveness of multifaceted educational programme to reduce antibiotic dispensing in primary care: practice based randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2012Trial
- Knowledge, Attitudes and Intentions to Prescribe Antibiotics: A Structural Equation Modeling Study of Primary Care Institutions in Hubei, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Quality indicators for the diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of acute respiratory tract infections in general practice: a RAND Appropriateness Method.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2017Article
- Antibiotics for acute respiratory tract infections: a mixed-methods study of patient experiences of non-medical prescriber management.BMJ open · 2017Article
- Patient presentation and physician management of upper respiratory tract infections: a retrospective review of over 5 million primary clinic consultations in Hong Kong.BMC family practice · 2014Article
- Young people's use of NHS Direct: a national study of symptoms and outcome of calls for children aged 0-15.BMJ open · 2013Article
- Managing self-limiting respiratory tract infections: a qualitative study of the usefulness of the delayed prescribing strategy.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Article
- Upper respiratory tract infections (including otitis media).Pediatric clinics of North America · 2009Review
- Antibiotics and acute purulent rhinitis: are antibiotics effective for acute purulent rhinitis?BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Article
- Antibiotics and acute purulent rhinitis: review is symptomatic of medicine today.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Article
- Antibiotics and acute purulent rhinitis: there is no significant difference between antibiotics.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Article
- Antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections and conjunctivitis in primary care.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Article
- Optimizing the management of the main acute infections in pediatric ORL: tonsillitis, sinusitis, otitis media.Brazilian journal of otorhinolaryngologyReview
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo systematically review the evidence for the effectiveness of antibiotics in acute purulent rhinitis (many guidelines advise against their use on the basis of one study that showed no effect). DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, and reference lists of retrieved articles. REVIEW
methodsMeta-analysis of data from double blind randomised placebo controlled trials comparing antibiotics with placebo for acute purulent rhinitis (duration less than 10 days).
resultsSeven studies were retrieved; four contributed data on benefits of antibiotics, and four contributed data on harms of antibiotics. The pooled relative risk of benefit for persistent purulent rhinitis at five to eight days with antibiotics was 1.18 (95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.33). The numbers needed to treat ranged from 7 to 15 when the pooled relative risk was applied to the range of control event rates. The relative risk for adverse effects with antibiotics was 1.46 (1.10 to 1.94). The numbers needed to harm for adverse effects ranged from 12 to 78. No serious harms were reported in the placebo arms.
conclusionsAntibiotics are probably effective for acute purulent rhinitis. They can cause harm, usually in the form of gastrointestinal effects. Most patients will get better without antibiotics, supporting the current "no antibiotic as first line" advice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.