Efficacy and safety of motherwort injection add-on therapy to carboprost tromethamine for prevention of post-partum blood loss: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Motherwort (YiMuCao), a traditional Chinese herb, has been shown beneficial effects for women's diseases. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of motherwort injection add-on therapy to carboprost tromethamine for prevention of post-partum blood loss. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang from their inception to December 2017. Randomized controlled trials that determined the add-on effects of motherwort injection to carboprost for prevention of post-partum blood loss were eligible. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to summarize the effect sizes. Eight trials including 1276 pregnant women fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Prophylactic use of motherwort injection add-on therapy significantly reduced the post-partum 2 h (MD −127.5 mL; 95% CI −149.13 to −105.88) and 24 h (MD −146.85 mL; 95% CI −179.77 to −113.94) blood loss and incidence of post-partum hemorrhage (RR 0.28; 95% CI 0.17–0.45) than carboprost. Moreover, adjunctive treatment with motherwort injection significantly decreased the length of the third stage of labor (MD −3.41 min; 95% CI −4.33 to −2.49) and duration of lochia (MD −7.13 days; 95% CI −8.49 to −5.76). There was no statistical significant difference in the incidence of adverse events (RR 0.76; 95% CI 0.50–1.16). Prophylactic use of motherwort injection add-on therapy to carboprost tromethamine could reduce post-partum blood loss. However, more well-designed trials are necessary to confirm the findings of this study due to the methodological flaws of the included trials.