Efficacy and safety of doxycycline for the management of small abdominal aortic aneurysms- a meta analysis
Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background- Patients with small Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms are managed with surveillance as there is currently insufficient evidence to recommend surgical aneurysm repair. Hence, there is a dire need and interest in pharmacotherapy like tetracycline antibiotics to reduce the need for aneurysm repair. Purpose- To determine the efficacy and safety of doxycycline in the management of small abdominal aortic aneurysms. Methods- Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane) were searched until 25th November 2020.The primary outcomes were the mean difference (MD) in aneurysm diameter and the odds ratio (OR) calculated to compare the number of individuals referred to Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in each group. Results- A total of three studies with 572 participants (Doxycycline = 290; Placebo = 282 ) were included in our analysis. Average follow up was a period of 18 months. For AAA expansion, the combined results demonstrated a statistically significant mean difference in expansion rates favoring the placebo groups over the intervention (WMD-0.75, 95%CI 0.12-1.38; p = 0.02;I2 = 0%) There was no statistically significant difference in the efficacy and safety of doxycycline as opposed to placebo groups for referral to AAA surgery (OR 1.01, 95%CI 0.61-1.69; p = 0.96, I2 = 0%) and all-cause mortality(OR 0.51; 95%CI 0.18-1.43; p = 0.20, I2 =0%) Conclusion- Amongst patients with small abdominal aortic aneurysms, doxycycline did not significantly reduce aneurysm growth. Abstract Figure. A) AAA expansion B)Surgery C)Mortality