Published online Aug 26, 2019. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v7.i16.2287
Peer-review started: March 15, 2019
First decision: June 19, 2019
Revised: June 25, 2019
Accepted: July 20, 2019
Article in press: July 20, 2019
Published online: August 26, 2019
Processing time: 166 Days and 12 Hours
Perioperative shivering is clinically common during caesarean section, and several neuraxial adjuvants have been used to prevent perioperative shivering. However, the effects of these neuraxial adjuvants and which one is preferred remain elusive.
To provide evidence for clinicians to choose the optimal neuraxial adjuvant to reduce perioperative shivering during cesarean section.
To evaluate the effects of different neuraxial adjuvants on perioperative shivering during cesarean section.
A systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) were conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. We performed a comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central databases for eligible clinical trials assessing the effects of neuraxial adjuvants on perioperative shivering. Analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 14.0.
Pethidine, fentanyl, dexmedetomidine, and sufentanil are more efficacious than other medications in the prevention of shivering during caesarean sections. Among the above four adjuvants, pethidine was most effective for shivering prevention (OR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.07-0.35, SUCRA 83.9), but with a high incidence of nausea (OR = 3.15, 95%CI: 1.04-9.57) and vomiting (OR = 3.71, 95%CI: 1.81-7.58). The efficacy of fentanyl for shivering prevention was slightly inferior to pethidine (OR = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.09-0.43), with a significantly decreased incidence of nausea (OR = 0.34, 95%CI: 0.15-0.79) and vomiting (OR = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.11-0.56). Furthermore, compared with sufentanil, fentanyl showed no impact on haemodynamic stability and the incidence of pruritus.
The results of this NMA indicated that neuraxial pethidine, fentanyl, dexmedetomidine, sufentanil appear to be more efficacious than other medications in the prevention of shivering during caesarean section. Considering the risk-benefit profiles of the included neuraxial adjuvants, fentanyl is probably the optimal choice for the prevention of perioperative shivering during cesarean section. Although several neuraxial adjuvants have been reported to prevent shivering during caesarean section, very few clinical trials directly compared the neuraxial adjuvants during caesarean section. Thus, it is currently impossible to perform a pairwise meta-analysis to directly compare the difference between two neuraxial adjuvants. More clinical trials that directly compare these neuraxial adjuvants (e.g., neuraxial pethidine vs fentanyl) are needed to fully explore the possible differences between the effects of these adjuvants.