Clinical Effect of Shenfu Injection in Patients with Septic Shock: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Purpose. To conduct a meta-analysis evaluating the efficacy of Shenfu injection for treating patients with septic shock when compared with conventional therapy. Methods. Eight databases including Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and CBM were searched up to October 2014. Randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of Shenfu injection were identified. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, lactate, and mortality were included as outcome measurements. Results. We analyzed data from 12 randomized controlled trials involving 904 participants. Compared with conventional therapy, Shenfu injection could further increase the mean arterial pressure at 1 hour (SMD 0.38; 95% CI, 0.01-0.74) and 6 hours (SMD 0.82; 95% CI, 0.03-1.61). Shenfu injection could further normalize heart rate at 6 hours (SMD -0.90; 95% CI, -1.47-0.33) and clear serum lactate at 6 hours (SMD -0.51; 95% CI, -0.70-0.32) and 24 hours (SMD, 0.52; 95% CI, -0.77-0.26). As the endpoint of mortality was not unified, it was not meta-analyzed. Conclusions. Based on the findings in present review, Shenfu injection is more effective than conventional therapy in increasing mean arterial pressure, normalizing heart rate, clearing serum lactate, and reducing mortality. These results should be confirmed in higher level clinical trials in the future.