Cochrane · intervention · CD006700
Acyclovir for treating primary herpetic gingivostomatitis
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2008 · Cochrane Library
Full textEvery question was extracted from the full review (methods and results), not only its Summary of Findings table.
Questions
11
current version
GRADE rated
0
No studies
2
Included studies
2
as reported
No studies 2 · 18.2%Ungraded 9 · 81.8%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (PHG) with or without herpes labialis; diagnosis confirmed by clinical history and laboratory investigation | Children aged 1 to 6 years (Amir 1997b, n=72); children mean age 2 years, 11 boys and 9 girls (Ducoulombier 1988, n=20) (n=92 total) |
| Intervention | Systemic oral acyclovir (any dose, frequency and duration of administration) | Acyclovir suspension 15 mg/kg 5 times daily for 7 days (Amir 1997b); acyclovir tablets 5 per day for 5 days, dose unspecified (Ducoulombier 1988) (n=2) |
| Comparison | Placebo or no treatment | Placebo suspension (Amir 1997b); placebo tablets (Ducoulombier 1988) (n=2) |
| Outcomes | Duration and time of healing of intraoral and extraoral lesions; Pain/discomfort; Difficulty in eating/drinking; Fever; Hospital admission; Quality of life; Patient or parental satisfaction; Direct costs; Adverse effects | Oral lesions (n=2); Extraoral lesions (n=1); Pain/discomfort (n=1); Difficulty eating (n=2); Difficulty drinking (n=1); Fever (n=2); Hospital admission (n=1); Quality of life (n=0); Patient or parental satisfaction (n=1); Direct costs (n=0); Adverse effects (n=2) |
| Study designs | Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) | Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trials (n=2) |
| Timing | From time of administration of intervention | Amir 1997b: examinations on days 0, 3, 6 and 8 (7-day treatment); Ducoulombier 1988: 5-day treatment |
Search date: 2008-05. Databases: The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); MEDLINE; EMBASE
Questions and results
Show all 2 versionsSystemic oral acyclovir vs Placebo or no treatment
Population: Children and young adults under 25 years with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis (with or without herpes labialis)
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Number of individuals with oral lesions (8 days after administration); time to healing of oral lesions 8 days after administration | RR 0.10 [0.02, 0.38] | 1 study · 72 participants | Ungraded |
Number of individuals with drinking difficulties (8 days after administration); duration of drinking difficulties 8 days after administration | RR 0.11 [0.01, 0.83] | 1 study · 72 participants | Ungraded |
Number of individuals admitted to hospital after administration After administration | RR 0.14 [0.01, 2.67] | 1 study · 72 participants | Ungraded |
Number of individuals who developed new extraoral lesions after administration; duration of extraoral lesions After administration | RR 0.04 [0.00, 0.65] | 1 study · 72 participants | Ungraded |
Number of individuals with eating difficulties (8 days after administration); duration of eating difficulties 8 days after administration | RR 0.14 [0.03, 0.58] | 1 study · 72 participants | Ungraded |
Direct costs (medication, hospital bed days) | No data available in either included study. | NR | No studies |
Fever (duration; time to return to normal temperature) | Amir 1997b: fever disappeared significantly earlier with acyclovir (median 1 day) than placebo (median 3 days); difference in median (95% CI): From 72: 1 (0.0 to 2.0); From 61: 2 (0.8 to 3.2); reported as median, not… | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Patient or parental satisfaction (tolerance and acceptability of drug) | Amir 1997b: no data available. Ducoulombier 1988: tolerance and acceptability of the drug was described as satisfactory, but it was unclear how this was assessed by the trialists. | 1 study | Ungraded |
Adverse effects | Amir 1997b: two children in each group (2 vs 2) had mild gastrointestinal symptoms that resolved spontaneously after 24 to 48 hours without a change in study treatment. Ducoulombier 1988: no significant adverse effects… | 2 studies | Ungraded |
Quality of life (assessed by a validated questionnaire) | No data were available in either included study (Amir 1997b; Ducoulombier 1988). | NR | No studies |
Pain/discomfort (time to resolution of pain) | Amir 1997b: no data available. Ducoulombier 1988: time to resolution of pain, acyclovir (1 day=1, 2 days=1, 3 days=3, 4 days=3, 5 days=1, persistent=0) vs placebo (1 day=0, 2 days=0, 3 days=1, 4 days=2, 5 days=4,… | 1 study · 18 participants | Ungraded |