bibliography*The PainScience Bibliography contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers and others sources, like a specialized blog. This page is about a single scientific paper in the bibliography, Alves 2019.

Fluoroquinolones and the risk of tendon injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

updated Jun 23, 2020

Tags: etiology, bad news, Achilles tendinitis, medications, harms, random, pro, self-treatment, treatment, pain problems

PainSci summary of Alves 2019?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible. ★★★★☆?4-star ratings are for bigger/better studies and reviews published in more prestigious journals, with only quibbles. Ratings are a highly subjective opinion, and subject to revision at any time. If you think this paper has been incorrectly rated, please let me know.

This meta-analysis substantiates and confirms the existence of a well-known phenomenon, a serious side effect of the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics: they cause a 2.5× greater risk of Achilles tendinitis than the average healthy person, and a 4× greater risk of Achilles tendon rupture, worse in older patients and when mixed with corticosteroids.

original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.

PURPOSE: Tendinopathy is a known adverse reaction associated to fluoroquinolones, but a meta-analysis was not yet published. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the scientific evidence evaluating the risk of tendon injury associated with fluoroquinolones.

METHODS: A literature search was conducted to identify observational studies which reported results on the risk of Achilles tendon rupture (ATR), risk of Achilles tendinitis (AT), or risk of any tendon disorders (ATD). A meta-analysis was performed by pooling odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Treatment with fluoroquinolones was associated with an increased risk of ATR (OR 2.52 (95% CI 1.81-3.52), p < 0.001, I2 = 76.7%), an increased risk of AT (OR 3.95 (95% CI 3.11-5.01), p < 0.001, I2 = 0%), and increased risk of ATD (OR 1.98 (95% CI 1.62-2.43), p < 0.001, I2 = 84.5%). The initial risk estimates remained statistically significant among patients aged ≥ 60 years old. Risk estimates did not significantly change after depending on the concomitant use of corticosteroids or studies methodological quality assessment. The analysis according to the type of fluoroquinolones was only possible for ATR, which were ofloxacin and norfloxacin were found to increase the risk of this outcome, but not ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this meta-analysis confirm the risk of tendon injuries associated with fluoroquinolones. Older age and concomitant use of corticosteroids seem to be additional risk factors for tendinopathy.

original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.

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