Abstract
BackgroundProbiotics may prevent antibiotic-associated and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (AAD/CDAD). Many spinal cord injury centre (SCIC) practitioners consider probiotics generically and may not realise that efficacy can be strain-, dose- and disease-specific. In order to confirm these effects and fully evaluate the extent of probiotic effectiveness in these patients, a systematic review and meta-analysis is indicated.MethodsThe following databases will be searched for relevant studies: Cochrane Library; Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) Database; CINAHL; PsycINFO; Embase; Medline; AMED; International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal and ISRCTN Registry and will hand search a list of conference proceedings. Any randomised controlled trials without restriction of publication status will be included with treatment of AAD/CDAD. Outcomes will include the effect of probiotic on the occurrence of AAD/CDAD and duration of diarrhoea, intensive care unit admission, hospital mortality and length of hospital stay. Two reviewers will independently screen the titles, abstracts or even full texts and extract data. Two other reviewers will assess study quality. Revman 5.1 software will be used to conduct meta-analysis and calculate the risk ratio for dichotomous data. Weighted mean difference or standard mean difference will be calculated for continuous data. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool will be used to assess the risk of bias.DiscussionThis systematic review protocol will provide information on probiotic therapy for AAD and CDAD in spinal cord injury (SCI) population. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication or conference presentation.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42015016976Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0159-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Probiotics may prevent antibiotic-associated and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (AAD/ CDAD)
This systematic review and meta-analysis will use the most definitive method to assess the effectiveness of probiotic in preventing and treating diarrhoea associated with antibiotics and Clostridium difficile infection in spinal cord injury (SCI) population
The current use of probiotic to prevent and treat associated with antibiotic used (AAD)/ CDAD remains inconclusive, where it could be limited by variation in strain, dose, duration and disease-type studied
Summary
The following databases will be searched for relevant studies: Cochrane Library; Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) Database; CINAHL; PsycINFO; Embase; Medline; AMED; International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal and ISRCTN Registry and will hand search a list of conference proceedings. Any randomised controlled trials without restriction of publication status will be included with treatment of AAD/CDAD. Outcomes will include the effect of probiotic on the occurrence of AAD/CDAD and duration of diarrhoea, intensive care unit admission, hospital mortality and length of hospital stay. Two other reviewers will assess study quality. Revman 5.1 software will be used to conduct meta-analysis and calculate the risk ratio for dichotomous data. Weighted mean difference or standard mean difference will be calculated for continuous data. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool will be used to assess the risk of bias
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