Summary of findings 6. Foam compared to sclerotherapy (any sclerosant) for treatment of telangiectasias and reticular veins.
| Foam compared to sclerotherapy (any sclerosant) for telangiectasias and reticular veins | ||||||
| Patient or population: people with telangiectasias and reticular veins Setting: outpatient Intervention: foam Comparison: sclerotherapy (any sclerosant) | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants/procedures* (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with sclerotherapy (any sclerosing agent) | Risk with foam | |||||
|
Resolution or improvement of telangiectasias (follow‐up: 5 ‐ 10 weeks) |
‐ | SMD 0.04 higher (0.26 lower to 0.34 higher) | ‐ | 187 (2 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOWa | ‐ |
|
Adverse events ‐ hyperpigmentation (follow‐up: 5 ‐ 10 weeks) |
Study population | RR 2.12 (0.44 to 10.23) | 187 (2 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOWa | ‐ | |
| 26 per 1000 | 55 per 1000 (11 to 265) | |||||
|
Adverse events ‐ matting (follow up: 5 ‐ 10 weeks) |
Study population | RR 6.12 (1.04 to 35.98) | 187 (2 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOWa |
‐ | |
| 9 per 1000 | 53 per 1000 (9 to 310) | |||||
|
Pain (follow up: 1 day) |
SMD 0.1 lower (0.44 lower to 0.24 higher) | ‐ | 147 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOWa | ‐ | |
| Recurrence | See comment | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | The studies in this comparison did not assess this outcome |
| Time to resolution | See comment | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | The studies in this comparison did not assess this outcome |
| Quality of life | See comment | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | The studies in this comparison did not assess this outcome |
| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; RCT: randomised controlled trial; RR: risk ratio; SMD: standardised mean difference | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: We are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect Moderate certainty: We are moderately confident in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different Low certainty: Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect Very low certainty: We have very little confidence in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect | ||||||
* One study used participants as the unit of analysis and one study used the number of procedures as the unit of analysis for each comparison. aWe downgraded by two levels due to wide CIs and few participants in the included studies.