Related Experiment Videos
Antibiotics for acute laryngitis in adults
L Reveiz1, A F Cardona, E G Ospina
1Department of General Practice, Clinica Reina Sofía, Diagonal 127 A # 31 - 48 Cons 221, Bogota, Colombia. mmreveiz@hotmail.com
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|January 28, 2005
Summary
Antibiotics do not improve acute laryngitis symptoms. While erythromycin showed minor subjective voice benefits, objective measures and overall outcomes were not significantly improved, suggesting antibiotics are not beneficial for this condition.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Acute laryngitis is a prevalent global condition.
- Diagnosis is frequently based on clinical history.
- Treatment typically focuses on symptom management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of antibiotic therapies for acute laryngitis in adults.
- To document adverse event rates associated with antibiotic treatments.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
- Searched multiple electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, BIOSIS) and trial registries.
- Included RCTs comparing antibiotics with placebo for acute laryngitis, with objective voice scores as the primary outcome.
Main Results:
- Only two RCTs met inclusion criteria, involving 100 and 106 adult patients respectively.
- Penicillin V and erythromycin showed no significant differences in objective voice scores compared to placebo.
- Erythromycin demonstrated subjective improvements in voice disturbance and cough, but these were deemed clinically insignificant.
Conclusions:
- Antibiotic therapy offers no objective benefit for acute laryngitis.
- Subjective improvements with erythromycin are not clinically relevant.
- Avoid prescribing antibiotics for acute laryngitis as a first-line treatment.