%0 Meta-Analysis
%T Colchicine for the treatment of patients with COVID-19: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
%A Cheema HA
%A Jafar U
%A Shahid A
%A Masood W
%A Usman M
%A Hermis AH
%A Naseem MA
%A Sahra S
%A Sah R
%A Lee KY
%J BMJ Open
%V 14
%N 4
%D 2024 Apr 17
%M 38631824
%F 3.006
%R 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074373
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>We conducted an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effect of colchicine treatment on clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>Systematic review and meta-analysis.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, medRxiv and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to January 2023.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the efficacy of colchicine treatment in patients with COVID-19 as compared with placebo or standard of care were included. There were no language restrictions. Studies that used colchicine prophylactically were excluded.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We extracted all information relating to the study characteristics, such as author names, location, study population, details of intervention and comparator groups, and our outcomes of interest. We conducted our meta-analysis by using RevMan V.5.4 with risk ratio (RR) and mean difference as the effect measures.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>We included 23 RCTs (28 249 participants) in this systematic review. Colchicine did not decrease the risk of mortality (RR 0.99; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.05; I2=0%; 20 RCTs, 25 824 participants), with the results being consistent among both hospitalised and non-hospitalised patients. There were no significant differences between the colchicine and control groups in other relevant clinical outcomes, including the incidence of mechanical ventilation (RR 0.75; 95% CI 0.48 to 1.18; p=0.22; I2=40%; 8 RCTs, 13 262 participants), intensive care unit admission (RR 0.77; 95% CI 0.49 to 1.22; p=0.27; I2=0%; 6 RCTs, 961 participants) and hospital admission (RR 0.74; 95% CI 0.48 to 1.16; p=0.19; I2=70%; 3 RCTs, 8572 participants).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>The results of this meta-analysis do not support the use of colchicine as a treatment for reducing the risk of mortality or improving other relevant clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. However, RCTs investigating early treatment with colchicine (within 5 days of symptom onset or in patients with early-stage disease) are needed to fully elucidate the potential benefits of colchicine in this patient population.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>CRD42022369850.