Table 5.

Evaluation of the quality of evidence using the GRADE guidelines.

Anticipated effect	Certainty assessment
Pharmacotherapy	Risk of bias	Inconsistency	Indirectness	Imprecision	Publication bias	Sample size (number of studies)	Certainty of evidence (GRADE)
Antiviral (valacyclovir)	Serious risk of bias	Some inconsistency exists	Some indirectness exists	Some imprecision exists	Undetected	256 (3)	Low
Antibiotics (ceftriaxone, doxycycline, amoxicillin, other)	Serious risk of bias	Some inconsistency exists	Some indirectness exists	Some imprecision exists	Undetected	521 (5)	Low
Non-opioid analgesic (flupirtine maleate)	Serious risk of bias	Some inconsistency exists	Some indirectness exists	Some imprecision exists	Undetected	28 (1)	Very low