Is antimicrobial susceptibility testing necessary before first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection? Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND With the wide use of antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori strains are becoming increasingly prevalent. It has been hypothesized that culture-guided therapy might help to increase treatment success. But the effects and the costs still remain controversial. AIMS To systematically review the efficacy and the cost of culture-guided triple therapy, compared to standard triple regimen for first-line treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection. METHODS A search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded and CBM was performed. Randomized controlled trials comparing culture-guided triple therapy to standard triple therapy in the first-line treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection were selected for meta-analysis. Relative risk was used as a measure of the effect of two regimens mentioned above with a fixed-effects model using the methods of DerSimonian and Laird. RESULTS Five randomized controlled trials totaling 701 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed that culture-guided triple therapy was superior referring to a higher eradication rate from intention-to-treat analyses (RR, 0.84; 95% CI,0.77, 0.90; p<0.00001) and a lower overall cost. CONCLUSION Culture-guided triple therapy was more effective than standard triple therapy for first-line treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection. Based on the only paper focused on the overall cost, the culture-guided triple therapy was also more cost saving. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is necessary before first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection.