Antibiotics for acute laryngitis in adults
L Reveiz1, A F Cardona, E G Ospina
1Epidemiologist Sanitas Research Institute School of Medicine, Department of General Practice, Fundación Universitaria Sanitas, Diagonal 127 A # 31 - 48 Cons 221, Bogota, Colombia. lureveiz@colsanitas.com
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|April 20, 2007
Summary
Antibiotics do not improve acute laryngitis symptoms. While erythromycin may subjectively reduce voice disturbance, this benefit is not clinically significant, suggesting antibiotics are not recommended for initial treatment.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Acute laryngitis is a prevalent global condition.
- Diagnosis typically relies on case history, with symptom management as the primary treatment focus.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of various antibiotic treatments for acute laryngitis in adults.
- To document adverse event rates associated with these antibiotic therapies.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of multiple electronic databases (Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, BIOSIS) and ongoing trial registries.
- Inclusion of randomized controlled trials comparing antibiotic therapy against placebo for acute laryngitis.
- Primary outcome measured using objective voice scores; data synthesized descriptively.
Main Results:
- Two trials involving 206 adults met inclusion criteria.
- Penicillin V showed no significant difference compared to placebo in objective voice scores or reported symptoms.
- Erythromycin did not significantly improve objective voice scores but demonstrated subjective benefits in voice disturbance and cough, with a number needed to treat of 4.5 for subjective voice scores.
Conclusions:
- Antibiotics offer no objective benefit for acute laryngitis.
- Subjective improvements with erythromycin are considered clinically irrelevant.
- Prescribing antibiotics for acute laryngitis is not recommended as a first-line approach.
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