Summary of findings 10. Sclerotherapy plus compression compared to sclerotherapy alone for telangiectasias and reticular veins.
| Sclerotherapy plus compression compared to sclerotherapy alone for telangiectasias and reticular veins | ||||||
| Patient or population: people with telangiectasias and reticular veins Setting: outpatient Intervention: sclerotherapy plus compression Comparison: sclerotherapy | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies)* | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with sclerotherapy | Risk with sclerotherapy plus compression | |||||
|
Resolution or improvement of telangiectasias (follow‐up: 4 ‐ 8 weeks) |
‐ | SMD 0.09 higher (0.19 lower to 0.37 higher) | ‐ | 196 (2 studies) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝ MODERATEa |
‐ |
|
Adverse events ‐ hyperpigmentation (follow‐up:4 ‐ 8 weeks) |
Study population | RR 0.93 (0.41 to 2.07) | 196 (2 studies) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝ MODERATEa |
‐ | |
| 112 per 1000 | 104 per 1000 (46 to 232) | |||||
|
Adverse events ‐ matting (follow‐up: 8 weeks) |
Study population | RR 1.84 (0.17 to 19.62) | 96 (1 study) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOWb | ‐ | |
| 22 per 1000 | 40 per 1000 (4 to 427) | |||||
| Pain | See comment | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | The studies in this comparison did not assess this outcome |
| 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 (follow up: 8 weeks) |
SMD 0.02 lower (0.42 lower to 0.39 higher) | ‐ | 93 (1 study) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ LOWb | ||
| *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: standard 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 | ||||||
*All studies used participants as the unit of analysis. aWe downgraded one level because of few participants in included studies. bWe downgraded two levels because of few participants and only one included study.