SequentialTherapyisSuperiortoTripleTherapyforHelicobacter pylori Infection in Children: A Meta-Analysis

Objectives Toassesstheefficacyandsafetyof10-dsequential therapy compared to 5t o 14-d triple therapy for treating Helicobacter pylori infections in children according to the eradication rates. Methods The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, ChinaNationalKnowledgeInfrastructuredatabases,andother sources were searched in November 2014 without language restrictions. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared sequential therapy with triple therapy for H. pylori eradication in children were included. Dichotomous data were pooled to obtain the relative risk (RR) of the eradication rate with a 95 % confidence interval (CI). Results Fourteen RCTs with 1698 participants (718 and 980 for sequential and triple therapy, respectively) were included. The intention-to-treat eradication rates were 73 % (95 % CI: 70–76) and 66 % (95 % CI: 64–70) for sequential and triple therapy, respectively. The pooled RR was 1.16 (95 % CI: 1.09–1.23), resulting in a number needed to treat of 16 (95 % CI: 10–48), favoring sequential therapy. Sequential therapy was superior to 7- and 10-d triple therapy. Sequential and triple therapy did not differ significantly in the overall risk of adverse effects. Conclusions In children, sequential therapy appears to be superior to triple therapy for H. pylori eradication, although the eradication rates remain lower than the expected goal with both treatments. Factors-associated with a higher risk of eradication failure, such as compliance and antimicrobial resistance, remain insufficiently investigated. Therefore, further high-quality RCTs are neededtocompare these differenteradication treatment approaches.