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Treatment of functional dyspepsia with antianxiety or antidepressive agents: systematic review

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Abstract

Background

The pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia (FD) has not been elucidated precisely; accordingly, effective management of FD has not yet been found. Until now, treatment with antianxiety or antidepressive agents has been empirically applied; however, the efficacy of these treatments has not been established. We carried out this study to estimate the efficacy of these treatment approaches by systematically reviewing the literature concerning trials with agents that are efficacious against anxiety, neurosis, or depression.

Methods

Articles were searched from the MEDLINE database up to October 2003, using the terms, “antianxiety agents”, “antidepressants”, and “dyspepsia”, and from reference lists of published articles. Finally, studies in which the effectiveness of drugs was clearly stated were selected from the retrieved articles.

Results

Thirteen articles, on 1717 patients, were selected from among 90 articles retrieved through our literature search. In 11 of the 13 studies, dyspeptic symptoms were improved significantly by treatment. Statistical analysis of 4 trials showed a significant benefit of treatment with antianxiety or antidepressive agents (pooled relative risk, 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36–0.85), although funnel plots were asymmetric.

Conclusions

Antianxiety or antidepressive agents may be effective in the treatment of FD patients, though further clinical trials are necessary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

    Mariko Hojo, Toshifumi Ohkusa, Akihito Nagahara, Masato Kawabe, Daisuke Asaoka, Yuko Izumi & Nobuhiro Sato

  2. Department of Upper Gastroenterology, Hyogo Medical College, Hyogo, Japan

    Hiroto Miwa

  3. Department of Technology Assessment and Biostatistics, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama, Japan

    Tetsuji Yokoyama

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  1. Mariko Hojo
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  9. Nobuhiro Sato
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Hojo, M., Miwa, H., Yokoyama, T. et al. Treatment of functional dyspepsia with antianxiety or antidepressive agents: systematic review. J Gastroenterol 40, 1036–1042 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00535-005-1687-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00535-005-1687-8

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