Efficacy and safety of Tanreqing injection combined with antibiotics against Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Tanreqing injection (TRQ) is a traditional Chinese medicine injection. The goal of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of TRQ injection in combination with azithromycin or ceftriaxone, as well as azithromycin or ceftriaxone alone, in treating Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia (SPP). The randomized controlled trial (RCT) of TRQ injection combined with antibiotics versus antibiotics alone in the treatment of SPP was retrieved from Chinese and English databases (the control group was treated with antibiotics alone, while the experimental group received TRQ injection combined with antibiotics). The retrieval period was from the database's inception through February 2022. The data was extracted using the Cochrane Collaboration Network Quality Evaluation Standards, the methodological quality of the included literature was assessed, and the outcome indicators were calculated using RevMan5.4.1 software. A total of 25 RCTs were collected, including 2057 patients. TRQ injection combined with antibiotics significantly improved clinical efficacy and reduced defervescence time, lung rale disappearance time, cough disappearance time, disappearance time of chest pain, and average hospitalization time when compared to control group, according to meta-analysis results (p < 0.05). In the treatment of SPP, TRQ injection combination with antibiotics can significantly improve the total effect rate when compared to standard western medicine. Due to the low quality of the randomized controlled trials included in this investigation, more high-quality, multi-center, large-sample, prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical studies are needed to confirm the aforementioned conclusions.