Efficacy and safety of oral propranolol and topical timolol in the treatment of infantile hemangioma: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Propranolol, a nonselective β-blocker, is the first-line treatment for infantile hemangioma (IH). Topical timolol has recently been proposed as a novel IH treatment with fewer adverse effects. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of oral propranolol and topical timolol for treating IH.

Methods

Studies were included after searching PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library via the keywords of "propranolol", "timolol", "infantile hemangioma" and their synonyms. A meta-analysis with pooled odds ratios was performed using the fixed-effect model.

Results

Seven articles with 2071 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with topical timolol, oral propranolol had a greater response rate (OR = 2.12, P < 0.0

SUBMITTER: Huang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11646719 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature