OBJECTIVETo systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Potassium Dehydroandrographolide Succinate Injection (PDSI) in the treatment of child epidemic parotitis (EP).

METHODSRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding PDSI in the treatment of child EP were searched in China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, and Cochrane Library from inception to July 30, 2013. Two reviewers independently retrieved RCTs and extracted information. The Cochrane risk of bias method was used to assess the quality of included studies, and a meta-analysis was conducted with RevMan 5.2 software.

RESULTSA total of 11 studies with 818 participants were included. The quality of the studies was generally low, among which only one study mentioned the random method. The meta-analysis indicated that PDSI was more effective than the conventional therapy with Western medicine for EP in the outcomes of the total effective rate [relative risk (RR)=1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.14, 1.33], P<0.01], the time of temperature return to normal, the time of detumescence [mean difference (MD)=-2.10, 95% CI [-2.78,-1.41], P<0.01], and the incidence of complications (RR=0.14, 95% CI [0.03, 0.72], P=0.02). There were 6 adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in this systematic review, 2 of which were mainly represented rash and diarrhea in the experiment group, while another 4 ADRs occurred in the control group.

CONCLUSIONSBased on the systematic review, PDSI was effectiveness and relatively safety in the treatment of child EP. But further rigorously designed trials are warranted to determine its effectiveness.