Patient or population: adults with acute stroke Intervention: antibiotics
Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo Comparison: conventional treatment/placebo
Outcomes
Outcomes
Anticipated absolute effects a (95% CI) Anticipated absolute effects a (95% CI)
Relative effect (95% CI)
NO. of participants (studies) Quality of the evidence (GRADE)
Risk with conventional treatment/placebo Risk with conventional treatment/placebo Risk with prophylactic antibiotic treatment
Mortality rate
153 per 1000
153 per 1000
157 per 1000 (139 to 177) RR 1.03 (0.91, 1.16) 4740 (12 RCTs) ⊕⊕⊕⊕ High b, c
Pneumonia
151 per 1000
151 per 1000
142 per 1000 (119 to 168) RR 0.94 (0.79, 1.11) 4352 (7 RCTs) ⊕⊕⊕⊕ High b
Incidence of infections
297 per 1000
297 per 1000
214 per 1000 (172 to 21264) RR 0.72 (0.58, 0.89) 4517 (8 RCTs) ⊕⊕⊕ Moderate b, d
Urinary tract infections
100 per 1000
100 per 1000
39 per 1000 (30 to 49) RR 0.39 (0.3, 0.49) 4352 (7 RCTs) ⊕⊕⊕⊕ High b
The proportion of patients with mRS ≤ 2
275 per 1000
275 per 1000
327 per 1000 (267 to 399) RR 1.19 (0.97, 1.45) 4385 (9 RCTs) ⊕⊕⊕ Moderate b, e
NIHSS score
The mean NIHSS was 0
The mean NIHSS was 0
MD 4.89 lower (5.84 lower to 3.94 lower)
-
160 (2 RCTs) ⊕⊕ Low f
Length of hospital stay
The mean length of hospital stay was 0
The mean length of hospital stay was 0
MD 0.23 lower (0.66 lower to 0.2 higher)
-
3839 (3 RCTs) ⊕⊕⊕ Moderate b, g