Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23324408›Full record

Trial reportBMC gastroenterology2013

Erythromycin versus neomycin in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis: a randomized double-blind study.

Fernando Gomes Romeiro, Fabio da Silva Yamashiro, Madileine Francely Américo, Luciana Aparecida Corá, Giovanni Faria Silva, José Ricardo de Arruda Miranda, Carlos Antonio Caramori

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC gastroenterology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Fernando Gomes RomeiroDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, Brazil. fgromeiro@gmail.com
Fabio da Silva Yamashiro
Madileine Francely Américo
Luciana Aparecida Corá
Giovanni Faria Silva
José Ricardo de Arruda Miranda
Carlos Antonio Caramori
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) · BRUniversidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas · BRUniversidade Federal de Mato Grosso · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a severe complication in patients with hepatic cirrhosis, which causes numerous hospital admissions and deaths. Antibiotics are the best options in HE treatment, but head-to-head comparisons between these drugs are scarce. Erythromycin combines the antimicrobial effect and prokinetic properties in the same drug, but it has never been used in HE treatment. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of erythromycin as an HE treatment.

methodsWe achieved a randomized controlled trial of adult patients with HE and hepatic cirrhosis admitted in our hospital. After randomization, the subjects received either erythromycin 250 mg or neomycin 1 g orally QID until hospital discharge or prescription of another antibiotic. All subjects were blindly evaluated every day towards quantifying clinical, neuropsychometric, hepatic and renal exams. Statistical analysis was employed to compare the groups and correlate the variables with hospitalization duration.

results30 patients were evaluated (15 treated with each drug). At hospital admission, the groups were homogeneous, but the erythromycin group subjects achieved a shorter hospitalization stay (p = 0.032) and a more expressive reduction in alanine aminotranspherase levels (p = 0.026). Hospitalization duration was positively correlated with C reactive protein levels measured previous to (p = 0.015) and after treatment (p = 0.01).

conclusionsIn the sample evaluated erythromycin was associated with significant reductions in hospital stay and in alanine aminotranspherase values. Hospitalization time was positive correlated with C reactive protein levels measured before and after the treatments.

Indexed as

Administration, OralAdultAgedAlanine TransaminaseAnti-Bacterial AgentsC-Reactive ProteinDose-Response Relationship, DrugDouble-Blind MethodErythromycinFemaleHepatic EncephalopathyHumansLength of StayLiver CirrhosisMaleMiddle AgedAlanine TransaminaseAnti-Bacterial AgentsC-Reactive ProteinErythromycinNeomycin

Identifiers

PMID23324408
PMCPMC3551652
OpenAlexW2003905634

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.