Effectiveness of Combined Thrombolysis and Mild Hypothermia Therapy in Acute Cerebral Infarction: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of thrombolytic therapy combined with mild hypothermia in patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI), based on a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database of Controlled Trials were systematically screened for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of thrombolytic therapy combined with mild hypothermia in treating ACI from inception to January 2021. Participation and outcomes among intervention enrollees are as follows: P, participants (patients in ACI); I, interventions (thrombolysis in combination with mild hypothermia therapy); C, controls (thrombolysis merely); O, outcomes (main outcomes are the change of NIHSS, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde, inflammatory factor interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and adverse reaction). Following data extraction and quality assessment, a meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: A total of 26 RCTs involving 2071 patients were included. Compared to thrombolysis alone, thrombolytic therapy combined with mild hypothermia leads to better therapeutic efficacy [RR = 1.23, 95% CI (1.16, 1.31)], NIHSS [MD = −2.02, 95% CI (−2.55, −1.49)], glutathione peroxidase [MD = 8.71, 95% CI (5.55, 11.87)], superoxide dismutase [MD = 16.52, 95% CI (12.31, 19.74)], malondialdehyde [MD = −1.86, 95% CI (−1.98, −1.75)], interleukin-1β [MD = −3.48, 95% CI (−4.88, −2.08)], tumor necrosis factor-α [MD = −0.46, 95% CI (−3.39, 2.48)], and adverse reaction [RR = 0.87, 95% CI (0.63, 1.20)]. CONCLUSIONS: Thrombolytic therapy combined with mild hypothermia demonstrates a beneficial role in reducing brain nerve function impairment and inflammatory reactions in ACI subjects analysed in this meta-analysis.