Meta-analysis of ciprofloxacin in treatment of Crohn's disease

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of ciprofloxacin (cipro) for the treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to May 2014, with no language restrictions, for randomized placebo-controlled trials. Additional references were obtained from the reviewed studies. Five studies were in accordance with the criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled risk ratio (RR) of all the studies was 1.35 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-1.76; P=0.03]. In three studies, cipro was used for the treatment of CD with perianal fistula and the pooled RR was 1.66 (95% CI, 1.16-2.39; P=0.006). In two studies, cipro was used to treat active CD and the pooled RR was 1.13 (95% CI, 0.77-1.66; P=0.54). Thus in conclusion, cipro exhibits a significant efficacy for the treatment of CD, in particular with perianal fistula.