Objectives: Chinese herb medicine (CHM) is one of the most popular complementary and
alternative therapies, which has been widely used to treat Refractory Mycoplasma Pneumoniae
Pneumonia (RMPP). However, the effect and safety of CHM remain controversial. Hence, we conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate whether CHM combination
therapy could bring benefits to children and adolescents with RMPP. Methods: Seven databases were used for data searching through November 11, 2020 following the
PRISMA checklist generally. Review Manager 5.3, Trial sequential analysis 0.9.5.10 Beta software and Stata16.0 were applied to perform data analyses. Mean difference or risk ratio was adopted to express the results, where a 95% confidence interval (CI) was applied. Results: In general, this research enrolled 17 trials with 1,451 participants. The overall pooled results indicated that CHM was beneficial for children and adolescents with RMPP by improving the clinical efficacy rate [RR = 1.20, 95% CI (1.15, 1.25), p < 0.00001], shortening
antipyretic time [MD = -2.60, 95% CI (-3.06, -2.13), p < 0.00001],
cough disappearance time [MD = -2.77, 95% CI (-3.12, -2.42), p < 0.00001], lung
rale disappearance time [MD = -2.65, 95% CI (-3.15, -2.15), p < 0.00001], lung X-ray infiltrates disappearance time [MD = -2.75, 95% CI (-3.33, -2.17), p < 0.00001], reducing TNF-α level [MD = -5.49, 95% CI (-7.21, -3.77), p < 0.00001]. Moreover, subgroup results suggested that removing heat-phlegm and toxicity
therapy had more advantages in shortening
antipyretic time,
cough disappearance time, lung X-ray infiltrates disappearance time and reducing TNF-α level. Meanwhile promoting blood circulation
therapy seemed to be better at relieving lung
rale. However, regarding adverse events, the two groups displayed no statistical difference [RR = 0.97, 95% CI (0.60, 1.57), p = 0.91]. Conclusion: Despite of the apparently positive results in relieving clinical symptoms, physical signs and reducing
inflammation, it is premature to confirm the efficacy of CHM in treating RMPP because of the limitation of quality and the number of the included studies. More large-scale, double-blind, well-designed, randomized controlled trials are needed in future research.