Prophylaxis of ibuprofen in acute mountain sickness: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is the effect when people accessing high altitude in a short period of time. As a cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor, ibuprofen could alleviate the symptoms of AMS. However, whether it can prevent AMS or not is still controversial. It is necessary to perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the role of ibuprofen in AMS prophylaxis. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) will be searched for the relevant published studies that explored the value of ibuprofen in AMS prophylaxis from inception to October 2020. The data will be independently extracted by 2 researchers. Risk of bias will be evaluated based on Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. Heterogeneity among the included studies will be evaluated by χ(2) and I(2) values. The meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan software version 5.3. RESULTS: This study will evaluate the role of ibuprofen in AMS prophylaxis. CONCLUSION: This study will summarize the current evidence of ibuprofen in AMS prophylaxis, which could further guide the recommendation in prevention of AMS. Open Science Framework (OSF) registration number: October 8, 2020. osf.io/n3mjt.