Objective. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Guanxinning injection (GXN) in treating
angina pectoris were published only in Chinese and have not been systematically reviewed. This study aims to provide a
PRISMA-compliant and internationally accessible systematic review to evaluate the efficacy of GXN in treating
angina pectoris. Methods. The RCTs were included according to prespecified eligibility criteria. Meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the symptomatic (SYMPTOMS) and electrocardiographic (ECG) improvements
after treatment. Odds ratios (
ORs) were used to measure effect sizes. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and metaregression were conducted to evaluate the robustness of the results. Results. Sixty-five RCTs published between 2002 and 2012 with 6064 participants were included. Overall
ORs comparing GXN with other drugs were 3.32 (95% CI: [2.72, 4.04]) in SYMPTOMS and 2.59 (95% CI: [2.14, 3.15]) in ECG. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and metaregression found no statistically significant dependence of overall
ORs upon specific study characteristics. Conclusion. This meta-analysis of eligible RCTs provides evidence that GXN is effective in treating
angina pectoris. This evidence warrants further RCTs of higher quality, longer follow-up periods, larger sample sizes, and multicentres/multicountries for more extensive subgroup, sensitivity, and metaregression analyses.