Magnesium sulphate in the management of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: A meta-analysis of prospective controlled trials

Primary objective: Experimental and clinical studies have suggested that magnesium has neuroprotective and vasodilatation properties. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness and safety of intravenous magnesium therapy in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH).Research design: Meta-analysis.Methods and procedures: Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched for prospective controlled trials evaluating intravenous magnesium for treating SAH after a ruptured aneurysm without language restrictions. Two researchers performed the literature search and data extraction independently.Main outcomes and results: Six prospective controlled trials involving 699 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Magnesium infusion reduced the risk of poor outcome and delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI): the relative risk was 0.62 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46–0.83) and 0.73 (95% CI 0.53–1.00), respectively. Sensitivity analyses were consistent with the meta-analysis. The withdr...