The effectiveness of colchicine in preventing pericarditis recurrence

Abstract

An overview of the topic: Colchicine has been used as anti-inflammatory agent in various clinical settings. Recurrence is a common complication of pericarditis seen in around 15 to 30% of the patients. In this review, the efficiency and safety of colchicine for recurrent pericarditis is assessed. The research question: Does the use of colchicine prevent recurrence in patients with Pericarditis? PICO elements: The population (P) studied was acute patient with pericarditis. The intervention (I) and the comparison (C) included the use of colchicine compared to no other drugs. The final expected outcome was the recurrence of pericarditis. Inclusion and exclusion criteria: Inclusion criteria were articles with patient with a definite diagnosis of pericarditis and receiving colchicine therapy, adults (>18 of age) and articles available in English which were published after 2005. Articles were excluded if they were surveys, guidelines, and reports. Outcome of the search: To assess the efficiency of colchicine therapy in the prevention of recurrent pericarditis. Methods of appraisal: A literature search was conducted using the following data bases: Medline Complete, Nursing & Allied Health Database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, HyDi and Google Scholar which retrieved eight studies. In this review the integrated appraisal used was PRISMA and the CASP. Main results: Colchicine therapy for pericarditis reduces the chance of developing secondary recurrent pericarditis. It reduces symptoms after 72 hours of acute pericarditis, lessens readmission to hospital due to pericardial symptoms and prolongs the time to subsequent recurrence.