ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of β - lactams alone and the combination of β - lactams with macrolides in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia(CAP) in children. Methods PubMed, CNKI and VIP databases were searched by computer. RCT on children with CAP treated by β-lactams and macrolides were collected. The retrieval time was from the establishment of the database to July 2020. Literatures were selected and data was extracted according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The risk of bias was evaluated, RevMan 5.3 software was used for Meta-analysis. Results Thirteen articles with 1788 patients were included in the study. The results showed that the clinical efficacy of the combination therapy in the experimental group was better than that in the control group [RR = 1.11, CI = 1.07–1.15, P < 0.000 01]. The time for fever returning to normal was shorter in the experimental group than that in the control group [MD = −1.31, CI =−1.58– −1.05, P < 0.000 01]. The disappearance time of pulmonary rales was shorter in the experimental group than that in the control group [MD = −1.75, CI = −2.13– −1.37, P < 0.000 01], There was no statistically significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion The combination therapy of β - lactams and macrolides is better than β-lactams alone in children with CAP with no significant difference in adverse reactions. Limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies, the conclusions from this study need to be further verified by large samples of high-quality RCT.