Edaravone for acute stroke: Meta-analyses of data from randomized controlled trials

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of edaravone for acute stroke including ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).Methods: We identified randomized controlled trials with comprehensive searches and performed systematic reviews according to the Cochrane methods of systematical reviews.Results: Edaravone can reduce the rate of death or long-term disability significantly for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) (RR=0.65; 95%CI, 0.48 to 0.89, p=0.007). However, sensitivity analysis yielded a different result. Edaravone can also improve the short-term neurological impairment of AIS (MD=7.09; 95%CI, 5.12 to 9.05, p<0.00001), and ICH (MD=-4.32; 95%CI, -5.35 to -3.29, p<0.00001).Conclusions: Edaravone is beneficial in improving neurological impairment resulting from AIS and ICH. However, currently there is no enough convincing evidence that edaravone reduces death or long-term disability for AIS and ICH.