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The Efficacy of Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors for the Male Treatment of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Gonglin Tang, Meilin Liu, Gui-Chun Ding, Shang-Jing Liu, Yongli Chu, Yuan-Shan Cui, Ji-Tao Wu

American Journal of Men's Health, 2023

707 participants · 5 citations

Abstract

To investigate the potential use of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in male patients, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis. Our study involved the identification and collection of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from leading databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library. The primary objective of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of COX-2 inhibitors for the treatment of LUTS. Our analysis involved six short-term (within 3 months) RCTs involving 707 patients. We found that COX-2 inhibitor treatment significantly improved the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) of patients (mean difference [MD] = −2.99, 95% confidence interval (CI): −3.65 to −2.33, p < .00001), nocturia frequency (MD = −1.90; 95% CI: −3.18 to −0.61, p = .004), and maximum flow rate (Qmax) (MD = 1.02; 95% CI: 0.06 to 1.98, p = .04). However, no significant differences were found between patients in terms of changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (MD = 0.02; 95% CI: −0.39 to 0.43, p = .92) and total prostate volume (TPV) (MD = −2.93; 95% CI: −6.45 to 0.59, p = .10). Therefore COX-2 inhibitors are an effective treatment for LUTS.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 707 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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