Table 3.

Treatment effects of interventions for pharyngitis in children that have been assessed in randomized, controlled trials

Intervention	Evidence	Effect
Treatment of initial pharyngitis
Antibiotics	15 studies (3621 participants)	Pain at 3 days reduced from 66% to 48%
	13 studies (2974 participants)	Pain at 7 days reduced from 18% to 12%
	15 studies (3621 participants)	Median time to cure reduced from 4 days to 3 days
	Eight studies (2443 participants)	Peritonsillar abscess within 2 months reduced from 2.3% to 0.1%
	16 studies (10,101 participants)	Rheumatic fever within 2 months reduced from 1.8% to 0.7%
	11 studies (3760 participants)	Otitis media within 14 days reduced from 2% to 0.5%
Analgesics	17 studies (1742 participants)	Pain scores reduced by 25% to 80% within 4 hours; benefits persisted with regular treatment over 2 o 5 days
Corticosteroids	Five studies (421 participants)	Pain reduced by 12 to 24 hours but effects inconsistent
Treatment of recurrent pharyngitis
(Adeno)Tonsillectomy	Six studies (1618 participants)	Sore throat episodes over 3 years reduced from 2.4 to 1.2 episodes per year