Table 2.
Characteristics of the patients in the included studies
| Patient characteristics | Lebrec et al[10] | Rössle et al[9] | Ginès et al[8] | Sanyal et al[11] | Salerno et al[12] | Narahara et al[13] |
| Number of randomized patients | 12/13 | 29/31 | 35/35 | 52/57 | 33/33 | 30/30 |
| Age, yr (mean) | 50/52 | 58/61 | 59/56 | 56/52 | 58/60 | 58/61 |
| Percentage of refractory ascites (total) | 100/100 (100) | 58/52 (55) | 100/100 (100) | 100/100 (100) | 72/64 (75) | 100/100 (100) |
| Percentage men (total) | 77/66 (72) | 72/68 (70) | 69/74 (71) | 63/70 (66) | 72/76 (74) | 77/70 (73) |
| Percentage alcohol-induced cirrhosis (total) | 77/83 (80) | 83/74 (78) | 51/60 (56) | 62/58 (60) | 45/39 (42) | 37/33 (35) |
| Percentage Child-Pugh class C (total) | 31/33 (32) | 38/22 (30) | 37/43 (26) | NR | 79/73 (76) | 37/30 (33) |
| Mean Child-Pugh score | 9.3/9.2 | 9.1/8.7 | 9.3/9.2 | 9.2/9.3 | 9.4/9.4 | 8.9/8.9 |
| Percentage with HE (total) | 15/17 (16) | 46/39 (40) | 37/40 (39) | NR | 27/21 (24) | 10/7 (8) |
| Percentage with previous GI bleeding (total) | NR | NR | 34/23 (29) | 23/25 (24) | 18/21 (20) | NR |
| Serum bilirubin, mg/dL | 2.04 ± 0.5/1.57 ± 0.2 | 1.8 ± 1.2/1.8 ± 1.0 | 2.0 ± 0.2/2.4 ± 0.3 | 1.9 ± 1.2/1.9 ± 1.4 | 1.7 ± 0.15/1.9 ± 0.24 | 1.3 ± 0.7/1.4 ± 0.7 |
| Serum albumin, g/dL | 3.0 ± 0.1/3.1 ± 0.2 | 3.5 ± 0.6/3.5 ± 0.4 | 2.8 ± 0.1/3.0 ± 0.1 | 2.9 ± 0.4/2.7 ± 0.4 | 2.9 ± 0.7/2.9 ± 0.8 | 2.7 ± 0.5/2.7 ± 0.6 |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dL | 0.9 ± 0.7/0.9 ± 0.6 | 1.3 ± 0.4/1.4 ± 0.9 | 1.4 ± 0.1/1.4 ± 0.1 | 1.1 ± 0.3/1.0 ± 0.3 | 1.12 ± 0.06/1.15 ± 0.09 | 1.03 ± 0.30/1.03 ± 0.35 |
| Serum sodium, mmol/L | 130 ± 2/130 ± 2 | 130 ± 6/131 ± 6 | 129 ± 1/130 ± 1 | NR | 133 ± 1/133 ± 1 | 134 ± 7/133 ± 5 |
All of the comparisons between groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05) in any of the included studies. TIPS: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt; HE: Hepatic encephalopathy; NR: Not reported; GI: Gastrointestinal.