Effect of prophylactic caffeine in the treatment of apnea in very low birth weight infants: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to investigate the effect of prophylactic caffeine use in the treatment of apnea and other clinical outcomes in very low birth weight infants. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, CNKI, and Cochrane databases for all relevant studies up to May 20, 2022. The meta-analysis was carried out using Stata16.0 and RevMan5.4 software. Results: Eleven randomized controlled trials were evaluated, including a total of 4375 very low birth weight infants. The results demonstrated that prophylactic caffeine use was linked with a significantly lower probability of AOP (OR 0.31, 95% CI: 0.19–0.49, p .05). Conclusion: This meta-analysis confirmed the beneficial effects of prophylactic caffeine in preventing apnea of prematurity and improving clinical outcomes.