Background: Several meta-analyses assessing the efficacy of anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment in adults have been published but a comparable meta-analysis in children is lacking.
Aims: To summarize the efficacy of treatments aimed at eradicating H. pylori in children and to identify sources of variation in treatment efficacy across studies.
Methods: We searched Medline, reference lists from published study reports, and conference proceedings for anti-H. pylori treatment trials in children. Weighted meta-regression models were used to find sources of variation in efficacy.
Results: Eighty studies (127 treatment arms) with 4436 children were included. Overall, methodological quality of these studies was poor with small sample sizes and few randomized-controlled trials. The efficacy of therapies varied across treatment arms, treatment duration, method of post-treatment assessment and geographic location. Among the regimens tested, 2-6 weeks of nitroimidazole and amoxicillin, 1-2 weeks of clarithromycin, amoxicillin and a proton pump inhibitor, and 2 weeks of a macrolide, a nitroimidazole and a proton pump inhibitor or bismuth, amoxicillin and metronidazole were the most efficacious in developed countries.
Conclusions: Before worldwide treatment recommendations are given for eradication of H. pylori, additional well-designed randomized placebo-controlled paediatric trials are needed, especially in developing countries where both drug resistance and disease burden is high.