| Title | Efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants in irritable bowel syndrome: A meta-analysis. | | Author(s) | Rahimi R, Nikfar S, Rezaie A, Abdollahi M | | Institution | Faculty of Pharmacy, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran. mohammad@tums.ac.ir. | | Source | World J Gastroenterol 2009 Apr 7; 15(13):1548-53. | | Abstract | We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) as a therapeutic option for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. For the years 1966 until September 2008, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for double-blind, placebo-controlled trials investigating the efficacy of TCAs in the management of IBS. Seven randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials met our criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. TCAs used in the treatment arm of these trials included amitriptyline, imipramine, desipramine, doxepin and trimipramine. The pooled relative risk for clinical improvement with TCA therapy was 1.93 (95% CI: 1.44 to 2.6, P < 0.0001). Effect size of TCAs versus placebo for mean change in abdominal pain score among the two studies was -44.15 (95% CI: -53.27 to -35.04, P < 0.0001). It is concluded that low dose TCAs exhibit clinically and statistically significant control of IBS symptoms. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 19340896 |
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