Objective Acute tonsillopharyngitis (ATP) is a common, seasonal infection of predominantly viral origin. Management is aimed at shortening the course of the disease and restoring the comfort of the patient. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate whether treatment with the Pelargonium sidoides extract EPs 7630 reduces the use of antipyretic comedication (i.e., acetaminophen) in children suffering from ATP.

Methods Studies were identified from clinical trial registries and medical literature. Randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trials investigating EPs 7630 in children with ATP and reporting the coadministration of paracetamol were eligible. Based on the raw data of eligible trials, we analyzed cumulative paracetamol use, as well as the ability to attend school at the end of treatment. Three trials including a total of 345 children aged 6 to 10 years and suffering from non-β-hemolytic streptococcal ATP were identified and eligible. Children were administered EPs 7630 or placebo for 6 days.

Results Compared with placebo, EPs 7630 reduced the cumulative paracetamol dose by an average of 449 mg (95% confidence interval [CI]: 252–646 mg; p < 0.001). A total of 19.1% (EPs 7630) and 71.5% (placebo) of children were still unable to attend school at the end of the treatment (risk ratio = 0.28; 95% CI: 0.16–0.48; p < 0.001).

Conclusion Our meta-analysis demonstrates that EPs 7630 reduced the use of antipyretic comedication and accelerated recovery.

目的 急性扁桃体咽喉炎（ATP）是主要由病毒引起的常见的季节性感染。管理的目的是缩短疾病进程并恢复患者的舒适度。我们进行了一项荟萃分析，以研究用天竺葵提取物EPs 7630进行的治疗是否会减少患有ATP的儿童的退热喜剧（即对乙酰氨基酚）的使用。

方法 从临床试验登记处和医学文献中鉴定研究。符合条件的随机，安慰剂对照，临床试验研究了患有ATP的儿童的EPs 7630，并报告了扑热息痛的共同给药。根据符合条件的试验的原始数据，我们分析了扑热息痛的累积使用量以及治疗结束后的入学能力。确定了三项试验，包括总共345名6至10岁并患有非β溶血性链球菌ATP的儿童。给儿童服用EP 7630或安慰剂6天。

结果 与安慰剂相比，EPs 7630平均降低了扑热息痛的累计剂量449 mg（95％置信区间[CI]：252–646 mg；p  <0.001）。在治疗结束时，仍有19.1％（EP 7630）和71.5％（安慰剂）的儿童仍无法上学（风险比= 0.28； 95％CI：0.16-0.48；p  <0.001）。

结论 我们的荟萃分析表明，EPs 7630减少了退烧药的使用并加速了康复。