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Meta-Analysis
. 2010 Feb 7;16(5):547-53.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i5.547.

A systematic review of efficacy and tolerability of mebeverine in irritable bowel syndrome

Mahnaz Darvish-Damavandi  1 , Shekoufeh Nikfar, Mohammad Abdollahi
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

A systematic review of efficacy and tolerability of mebeverine in irritable bowel syndrome

Mahnaz Darvish-Damavandi et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

We evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of mebeverine, a musculotropic antispasmodic agent, in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and compared its usual dosages by meta-analysis. Medical databases and all relevant literature were searched from 1965 to June 2009 for any placebo-controlled clinical trials of mebeverine, using search terms such as mebeverine, clinical trials, and IBS. Eight randomized trials met our criteria, including six trials that compared mebeverine with placebo and two that compared mebeverine tablets with capsules. These eight trials included 555 patients randomized to receive either mebeverine or placebo with 352 (63%) women and 203 (37%) men in all subtypes of IBS. The pooled relative risk (RR) for clinical improvement of mebeverine was 1.13 (95% CI: 0.59-2.16, P = 0.7056) and 1.33 (95% CI: 0.92-1.93, P = 0.129) for relief of abdominal pain. The efficacy of mebeverine 200 mg compared to mebeverine 135 mg indicated RRs of 1.12 (95% CI: 0.96-1.3, P = 0.168) for clinical or global improvement and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.87-1.34, P = 0.463) for relief of abdominal pain. Thus, mebeverine is mostly well tolerated with no significant adverse effects; however, its efficacy in global improvement of IBS is not statistically significant.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the study selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Individual and pooled relative risk (A), heterogeneity indicators (B), and publication bias indicators (C) for the outcome of “global or clinical improvement” in the studies comparing mebeverine vs placebo therapy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Individual and pooled relative risk (A) and heterogeneity indicators (B) for the outcome of “relief of abdominal pain” in the studies comparing mebeverine vs placebo therapy.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Individual and pooled relative risk and heterogeneity indicators for the outcome of “global or clinical improvement (A, B)” and “relief of abdominal pain (C, D)” in the studies considering mebeverine 200 mg compared to mebeverine 135 mg.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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