Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
-
J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Sep 2022
Meta AnalysisHigh-Dose versus Low-Dose Corticosteroids in COVID-19 Patients: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
The clinical efficacy of corticosteroids remains unclear. The primary aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the use of high-dose versus low- dose corticosteroids on the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients. ⋯ The meta-analysis demonstrated high-dose corticosteroids did not reduce mortality rate. However, high-dose corticosteroids did not pose higher risk of hyperglycemia and infection rate for COVID-19 patients. Due to the inconclusive trial sequential analysis, substantial heterogeneity and low level of evidence, future large-scale randomized clinical trials are warranted to improve the certainty of evidence for the use of high-dose compared to low-dose corticosteroids in COVID-19 patients.