Effectiveness Of Fexofenadine In Allergic Rhinitis:a Meta-analysis

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Fexofenadine in the treatment of allergicrhinitis (AR), so as to provide high quality evidence for formulating the rational ARtherapy. Methods: Databases including OVID,The Cochrane Library (Issue3,2012),PubMed, EMbase, CNKI and WanFang Data were searched to collect randomizedcontrolled trials (RCTs) on Fexofenadine in AR published before december2012. Tworeviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusioncriteria, extracted data, and evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies.Then the meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan5.1software. Results: A total of9trials involving3776patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that: asignificant reduction of the daily reflective total symptom scores (TSS)[SMD=-0.42;95%CI（–0.49，–0.35）,p＜0.00001]; Positive results were also found formorning instantaneous TSS[SMD=-0.28;95%CI（–0.36，–0.21）, p＜0.00001]；andindividual nasal symptom scores ｛congestion[SMD=-0.17;95%CI（-0.24，0.10）, p＜0.00001］, rhinorrhea［SMD=–0.24;95%CI（–0.31，–0.17）, p＜0.00001］,sneezing［SMD=–0.37;95%CI（–0.44，–0.30）,p＜0.00001］,and itching［SMD=–0.31;95%CI（–0.38，–0.24）, p＜0.00001］｝. There was no significant children but total numbers ofparticipants was too small to make this a reliable conclusion. Conclusion: This study hasmajor strengths to evaluate the efficacy and safety of fexofenadine in the treatment of ARby means of a meta-analysis of RCTs; All of these values encourage the recommendationof fexofenadine for AR. Further research focused on the benefits and disadvantages for apediatric population is needed.